Song of Eden
by Hieda no Akyuu
Summary: One-shot.


**Yes, I am still alive.  
**

**After getting absolutely wrecked by finals this semester, I can finally go back to working on my stories here.**

**This story you see here was my final feature film project for a Screenwriting class that I took this semester. Originally this was written in full screenplay format, but I have converted it entirely to a more Fanfiction-friendly one. I honestly do not feel comfortable writing movie-style screenplays, but it's helped broaden my perspective on writing styles and helped me think of new stories that I could explore. "Naraku no Hana" which is another story I am working on right now is a direct result of the brainstorming I've done in that class.  
**

**I've taken heavy influences from the visual novel by the name of Narcissu. If you've read it, you may see some similarities.**

**Just a quick note, the characters you see here aren't necessarily meant to represent the exact same characters from their corresponding counterparts from the Touhouverse. Though, undeniably, there are similarities.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

A teenage girl, named Maribel Hearn, dressed in a clean white lab coat underneath her blue dress and blouse, is walking to and fro from a set of cabinets and the black countertop at the side of the small lab, organizing rows of test tubes that contain blood samples of patients and filing them away in those cabinets. Maribel is a senior at a local high school, working as an intern at this clinic in hopes of finding a topic for her science project that she is to present at an upcoming science fair next semester. She does this for a few minutes until she gets to the last rack of test tubes.

"What is this…? Never seen these ones before here…" asks Maribel.

She studies them for a moment, trying to figure out what they are supposed to be.

"…a rare disease? But why has no one have this recorded?"

Slightly confused, the lab worker opens a drawer to pull out a clipboard and logs this last set of test tubes.

"They don't even have any labels, either…must be a fresh batch."

After logging them into the clipboard's papers, she walks to the door of the lab to pick up the in-clinic call phone, dialing the head doctor's office number. The dial rings through, and promptly, the voice of the head doctor, DR. RICHMOND, sounding age 50, answers.

"Yes, Maribel?"

"Hello, Doctor. I'd like to speak with you about this…new batch of blood samples that I found while organizing them. Do you have some time?"

"In fact, I do. Hold on just a second, I will be there shortly."

Maribel spends the time that it takes Dr. Richmond to walk from his office to the small laboratory observing these test tubes. The blood samples that they contain appear markedly more viscous than actual blood.

"And thus, the Head Doctor makes his entrance. How may I be of use, Miss Hearn?" says the Doctor, walking into the lab.

"Good evening, Doctor. As I stated just before, I found this rack of blood samples that I haven't seen before. I organized all of the blood samples just earlier this week, and no one had informed me of this set. I'd like to know why it was placed here without my knowledge."

Dr. Richmond peers at the test tube rack on the countertop through his monocle.

"Hmmm…oh yes, these samples."

Maribel notices that Dr. Richmond, who was looking jovial and lighthearted, now appears pensive.

"These blood samples belong to one of our more…_eccentric_…patients."

Meanwhile, a teenage girl, named Remilia Atelia, dressed in a drab white clinic patient's uniform, lies on her bed. She has her left hand crossed behind her head, between it and the pillow, and her right hand holds a green apple from which she eats slowly, chewing methodically and staring up at the ceiling. A bright red apple can be seen sitting on the windowsill just above her bed, peering out from underneath the bottom of the window blindfolds. Only her legs can be seen at first.

"Eccentric?" Maribel asks, cocking her head to the side a little.

"Yes, quite…eccentric. Now, I don't say eccentric in regards to her personality…though, understandably, seeing what she has had to go through, she is quite a disagreeable character. I mean eccentric in the nature of her disease…" the doctor says, picking up one of the test tubes.

"May I have her name, then? I was not aware that we had a new patient…my apologies…" Maribel says, pulling up her clipboard.

"Oh, no, no no no, that was not your fault. In fact, this patient has been here for quite some time – two years, to be precise. And her name is Remilia Atelia."

"And what kind of disease does she have?"

Dr. Richmond pauses for a moment, thinking of a proper way to answer.

"Well, Maribel…unfortunately, I wish I could tell you exactly what kind of disease she had," the doctor says, scratching the back of head.

Maribel stops writing.

"I take it that she is part of the K.T.B. Ward?"

"Excellent deductive skills, Watson! Indeed, she is part of that ward, room 36."

"I'm not too sure if that's something to be proud of…" Maribel mutters in a low voice.

"The, ahem…the disease that she carries…is a very unique one, to put it lightly. In other words, we have not yet seen a disease quite like this before. Perhaps she is the first case of such a rare disease, the progenitor, if you may. For now, we have tentatively labeled it as "exponential hypoglycaemic disorder"," Dr. Richmond states, ignoring Maribel.

Maribel writes on her clipboard.

"Exponential…hypoglycaemic…disorder…I'm sorry, Doctor, but could you please explain that to me? You know that I am…bad with scientific terminology."

"Yes, yes…um…I would take the time to deconstruct each part, but because it is getting late and you need to get home, I shall be brief with this. She…Remilia, basically, is a vampire."

Remilia takes a big bite out of the apple in an emphatic fashion. Remilia's entire body can now be seen, except for her face.

Maribel's eyes widen.

"V-Vampirism?"

The Doctor sighs. "Yes, you heard me correctly, Maribel…vampirism. She has a blood disease that, at certain points during the month, causes her to crave the consumption of the blood of other human beings. Think of it as coincidence if you will, but it seems that those points fall upon the cycles of the moon. New moon, half moon, full moon…all the more reason to call it vampirism, I suppose…"

An apple core is seen flying across Remilia's room into the trashcan next to her door.

"My age…" Maribel mutters.

"We are assured that she will die before her twentieth birthday. That much is, we believe, certain. Perhaps she may live longer, but…I just don't know. For her to live past that would be miraculous."

They exit Dr. Richmond's office and begin walking together to the lobby, where Maribel's belongings are, inside the security booth. As they walk down the corridor, they pass by another patient, a teenage boy dressed in the usual drab white clinic uniform. He is carrying a small syringe.

"You mentioned asking about treatment, and about that, we have developed a preliminary medication specifically for her, a simple concoction of glucose and plasma that serves to lessen the effects Remilia feels whenever her liver begins producing that enzyme that drives her crazy. We are currently experimenting with different kinds of medications to produce one that will directly affect that enzyme, but…so far, no such luck."

"I see…"

They reach the lobby in silence, and the security guard opens the door to let Maribel in so that she can retrieve her bookbag and car keys. As she picks up her bag, a hairpin falls out from the side onto the floor, but this goes unnoticed.

"Thank you."

The security guard nods in reply and waves her off in farewell, being a regular acquaintance of the intern as he has known her for about a year now. Before she exits the clinic, she turns to the head doctor.

"Um, Dr. Richmond?"

"Yes?"

"I'd like to pursue Remilia's case as the topic for my science fair project."

* * *

The teenage patient whom Maribel and Dr. Richmond had walked past is now walking through the infamous K.T.B. Ward, full of patients who are all afflicted with fatal diseases like cancer and rare diseases. He stops when he sees Room 36. He glances down at his hand that holds the syringe and reaches out with the other, knocking three times on the door.

"Who is it?" Remilia calls out, not getting up from her bed from inside the room.

A voice on the other side of her door calls back. "Uh…I was told to give you your medication for today."

There is no response for a moment. Then, the boy can hear the girl inside get up from her bed and walk to the door to open it, revealing a barefoot girl about a full head shorter than he with very, very long lavender hair that droops down to the backs of her knees. Remilia stares at him intently, narrowing her eyes.

"You're part of this ward, too? Why don't I recognize you?"

"What do you mean?"

"As in, I know everyone who lives in the K.T.B. ward. Because I don't know you, I'm assuming you're new here, that so?"

"Yeah. I just moved in two days ago."

"Hm. That so, huh. Come in for the time being."

Remilia turns and sits back down on her bed, as the boy walks in a little awkwardly.

"So that we're not so awkward around each other, what's your name?"

The boy sits in a chair near a table on which a basket of fresh fruit sits, putting the syringe on the table.

"Yuuji. Yuuji Sawatari."

"A Japanese fellow, hm?"

"Half Jap, quarter Chinese and quarter Korean."

Remilia widens her eyes in surprise. "Wow. Talk about racial diversity."

"What about you? What's your name?"

"Remilia Atelia. I'm French Canadian. You can hear a bit of the accent bleeding through, can't you?"

"I'm not a linguist, but yeah, I can hear it a little." Yuuji eyes the syringe. "Er, don't you, like, need to take your medication?"

Remilia rolls her eyes. "Oh right, my _medication._ Well, Mister Sawatari, I will have you know that I cannot administer this medication myself."

"For the record, uh, just calling me by my first name is fine. No need to be so polite."

"And for the record, I wasn't trying to be polite to you. I believe the term 'sarcasm' is relevant here."

"Oh really? Because if it was, I guess you _totally_ thought that I meant it when I said you were being polite…"

Remilia's eye twitches.

"I see how it is…"

Standing again, she walks to the table and takes the syringe. "So, like, where's the nurse?"

Yuuji stares blankly at her. "…what nurse?"

"Well, whenever I take my medication, a nurse that brings it to me helps me with it. Haven't you been listening?"

"You never mentioned the nurse part. How should I know?"

Remilia sighs. "Okay, whatever. Then –"

"A nurse did give that to me, asking me to give it to you, though," Yuuji interrupts.

"Really? Wow, that lazy bitch. I suppose it _is_ getting late, but seriously…"

Shaking her head in disbelief, Remilia pulls over the other chair and sits in it, handing the syringe to Yuuji again.

"Then it looks like you're gonna have to inject it for me."

"…shouldn't a more trained person do this?"

"If dumb nurses can do it, you can too. Doesn't matter if you're a K.T.B. patient, as long as you're not a damn vegetable."

She points at a spot at the bottom of her neck, closer to her right shoulder, and lifts up her hair. "See that? Just poke it in there until the needle part's all the way in, push, and take it out. Don't pull the phinger back up while the needle's still inside. Got it?"

"I sure damn hope so..." Yuuji mumbles, looking slightly uncertain. He injects the medication, following Remilia's instructions, and sets the empty syringe on the table. He takes a napkin from a small stack of white napkins next to the basket of fruit and wipes the small amount of blood from Remilia's neck. "Hope I didn't screw it up."

"Nah, don't worry, it's fine."

Remilia gets up from her chair, grabs another green apple, and hops back onto her bed, leaning her back against the wall and biting into the apple skin. Yuuji watches Remilia eat. "Where should I take the syringe?"

Remilia waves her hand at him. "Leave that for the nurses to take. They'll come by tomorrow, they'll put it away."

Yuuji starts to get up. "Well, in that case –"

"Nope, wait."

Yuuji stops. "…wait for what? What do you want?"

"I wanna talk with you for a little bit. You don't wanna?" She shrugs. "I mean, your choice. I'm not going to force to you stay here. I figured since you're new here, you'd want someone to talk to. Get you acquainted with the place."

"I already wandered around a bit. And I'm not keen on getting to know other people, seeing as I'm not going to be living for more than two years longer."

Remilia narrows her eyes. "Two years, you say? Hm, well. Same goes for me, as well. And for the record, since I've gotten so bored of living like this for the past two years, getting to know someone who looks my age and doesn't know who I am doesn't sound so bad anymore."

"Though, I'd beg to differ in the part where you said 'looks my age'…" Yuuji says, rolling his eyes. Remilia picks up her pillow and throws it at Yuuji, who catches it.

"Hey, I don't look it, but I'm actually seventeen! Screw you!"

"Oh, so I guess you were right. I'm seventeen too."

"Huh, how 'bout that. So what're you dying from? Cancer? It's what most people here in this ward are dying from…"

"Nah, I'm a bit different. A blood disorder…I think they called it, uh…wait, I don't even think they told me a name. They just said it was a disorder they'd never seen before…"

Yuuji notices that Remilia has gone very quiet.

"…there somethin' I said that bothered you? If so –"

"Of course there was. A unique blood disorder."

She chuckles bitterly, biting into her apple again.

"Though…I suppose…it's not so unique anymore if someone else's got a 'unique blood disorder' too. So? Let's hear about it, then."

Yuuji sighs. "Well, if you insist. Basically, from what the doctors tell me, I've got a blood disease where my blood cells make too much blood sugar, or they carry too much, either or, I forget. So 'cause of that, the sugar starts bleeding out into my blood vessels by osmosis, I think, or something, and it builds up. Like cholesterol or whatever. It also makes me get really giddy and shit. Makes me wanna fight people, turns me aggressive, all that stuff. And worst part about it is that I don't remember any of that. The times when there's too much of that sugar in my bloodstream."

Remilia listens while eating her apple. "How does your body get rid of all that sugar, then?"

Yuuji shrugs. "They're still looking into it. But they did tell me that there isn't any cure or treatment, even. Just that I'll be dead before I'm twenty, so…"

"That so, huh." Remilia gives a rare but dark smile.

"You sound like you're in the same boat as me. What about you?"

"From what I heard from you just now, it sounds like my disorder is the polar opposite of yours."

"Polar opposite…as in, like, your blood has too little sugar?"

Remilia nods. "Basically. I've got what they call exponential hypoglycaemic disorder, where my blood cells have too little blood sugar. So my liver makes this weird enzyme that tries to substitute the sugar, but it also drives me nuts wanting other people's blood."

"Like a vampire?" Yuuji raises an eyebrow.

Remilia simply laughs. "It's amazing how quickly people say that whenever I tell them. "Like a vampire?" Geez, I can't ever get over that. It's the first thing they ever say…anyway, yeah, like a vampire. I'm a vampire, basically. If I wasn't human, I really would be a vampire. I guess."

"Hm. Interesting."

"There's nothing interesting about going around almost killing a dozen people because you wanna drink their blood, though."

"That how you ended up here?"

Remilia throws her apple core across the room into the trashcan again.

"Excellent deductive skills, Watson. I commend you."

"We're not in a Sherlock Holmes movie, Remilia."

"Yeah, I know. That's just what the Head Doc says all the time. It's kinna like his little catch phrase. And seeing that I've seen him everyday for two years, you can say it kinda rubbed off on me."

"Hm. Nothing wrong with that."

"What about you? How'd you end up here?"

"Me? Mmm…my family noticed that my aggressive behavior induced by my disease was becoming too erratic for them to control, so they sent me here. I don't blame them, either. We never see each other, anyway."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"My siblings're studying over in Kyoto, and my parents are traveling business people. So it's not that I mind a lot that I'm stuck here."

"Hmph. How tragic."

"I'm sure you're not that much different, if people knew you were a vampire."

"Oh shit, watch out, we've got a clairvoyant over here!" Remilia feigns surprise as Yuuji stares at her, unamused.

"…um…what?"

"…you don't get my jokes, do you."

"I wasn't aware that they were supposed to be jokes."

"You suck," Remilia pouts, crossing her arms and lying down on her bed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing."

Sighing again, Yuuji gets up to leave. "Well, if there's nothing else you wanna say, I'm going to go back to my room to sleep. I'm tired."

"Mkay, then. Nice meeting you, Yuuji."

Yuuji shrugs as he opens the door. "Yeah, you too, I guess."

"Hey, Yuuji."

Yuuji stops at the door but does not look back at Remilia. "Yes?"

"Will you come talk to me again tomorrow?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean why, 'cause I asked you to. Plus, I'm freakin' bored."

"Because you haven't had someone to talk to for two years?"

Remilia feigns surprise again. "Hey, how'd you know?"

He sighs as he closes her door. "Alright, alright. I'll drop by tomorrow…don't have anything better to do myself."

After the door closes, Remilia closes her eyes. "As if we _have_ anything else better to do."

* * *

A bright light can be seen at the end of the K.T.B. Ward corridor, where the bathrooms are located. Soon, a loud flushing is heard, followed by the light's extinguishment as Yuuji walks outside, yawning and heading back to his room to sleep for the night. He is about to enter his room when something catches his eye, and he turns to look down the corridor. He sees two large figures obscured by the darkness of the corridor, in front of one of the rooms. He realizes that it is Remilia's room, and he realizes that they are going to break the door down.

"Hey! What the hell're you doing?!" Yuuji yells in a loud voice.

Without hesitation, Yuuji rushes down the corridor, and the two black figures, upon hearing him, slink away down the corridor and around the corner towards the clinic's lobby, but when Yuuji turns the corner himself, he no longer sees those figures. Confused by what he just saw, Yuuji turns around when he hears one of the rooms' doors open, and Remilia peers out of her room, rubbing her eyes.

"W…What're you doing…this late…? Go to sleep already, you dimwit…" she mumbles sleepily.

Yuuji replies hesitantly. "…sorry. Just saw something for a moment."

"What…like a rat or something?"

"Well…I wouldn't call it a rat, but…it _was_ outside your room."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Disinterested, Remilia shuts the door to go back to sleep. Yuuji looks down the corridor down which the figures he had seen had escaped once more before going back to bed himself.

* * *

Yuuji is sitting at his usual seat at the table, eating his lunch of chicken noodle soup, some garlic bread, and orange juice. A pitcher of water and two empty glasses sit next to the basket of fruit on the table. Remilia is sitting on her bed again, with her legs up against her chest as she hugs her knees. It has been a few days since their first encounter.

"I've been meaning to ask, but why is your hair that color? Whatever color it is," Yuuji asks, while eating.

Remilia lifts up some of her own hair. "Everyone asks me that too. It's because of my disease. For some reason, I guess that enzyme I told you about that's responsible for turning me into a vampire makes my hair lavender."

Yuuji slurps on his soup. "I see. That's cool."

"What's cool?" Remilia narrows her eyes at him.

"The fact that your hair is lavender. It's pretty refreshing, actually."

Remilia, confused by his wording, stares at him. "Refreshing…? Care to explain that?"

"Well…you know how human hair is usually like, brown, black, blonde, or something like that by nature, right?"

Remilia nods.

"I'm just saying it's nice to see another hair color that actually looks natural on someone."

"You mean as opposed to if people dyed their hair some other color?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Also, why's your hair so frickin' long? I've seen long hair, but…at least, I _thought_ I knew what long hair was…"

She closes her eyes and twists the corners of her mouth.

"Again, 'cause of my disorder. Well, not actually…I just like to blame it for having absurdly long hair…"

Remilia gets up from her hospital bed and walks over to her desk, to her basket of fresh fruit. She picks out a green apple for herself and tosses Yuuji a slightly bruised banana before sitting back down on her bed across from him, who peels the banana.

"Do you like long hair, Yuuji?"

"On girls?"

"Sure, yeah."

"I guess so. I'm a long-hair kinda guy. Doesn't really matter though, I can settle for short hair too."

Remilia snorts. "Then I'm sorry to disappoint you."

Yuuji gives no reaction as he takes a small bite of his banana. "Why do you say that?"

"Before I was diagnosed and put here, I had pretty short hair. Came down only to my neck, like right here." Remilia turns her neck to Yuuji so he can see where she's pointing at on the back of her neck.

"Huh, interesting. Since I've only known you for, what, two, three days now? I can't see you in short hair. You'd have to cut it for me to see you like that."

"If only I _could_ cut it."

Remilia takes a bite of her apple.

"Because the clinic's afraid that I might attack people with a pair of scissors, they've never gone so far as to even let anyone come into my room with scissors. Even when I asked if I could have my hair cut, they were all like 'Oh, we'll see what we can do, sweetie' and forgot about it. Forgot about me. Because everyone'd like to forget about a vampire walking around in human skin, right?"

Remilia chuckles bitterly, and Yuuji remains reactionless as he continues to eat his banana.

"Why do you hate long hair? Just curious."

"What do you mean, why? Isn't it obvious?"

"What's obvious?"

Remilia sighs. "I guess you don't see it just yet. When I was in high school, I had short hair, right? Back then, I didn't like having long hair because it meant that whenever I had to take a shower or comb my hair or whatever, I'd have to spend so much time just on my hair alone. I'd have to dry it for twice as long to make sure I got all of it, I'd have to straighten out the ends that I'd have to reach over and grab and hold together to make sure it wouldn't drift behind my back again, irrelevant stuff like that was just annoying to deal with. Plus, it might get caught on something, and I really do hate it when my hair does that."

Yuuji finishes his banana and throws the peel into the trashcan across the room next to the door. "Have you ever even had long hair before?"

"Once before, in middle school. That was when I realized having long hair was a bother, so I cut it," Remilia frowns.

"Would've been nice if I knew you then."

Remilia chuckles bitterly, more so this time. "Key word, _would've._ But it _isn't_. And whose fault is that? It sure as hell isn't anyone else's, right? So whose fault is it, then? Ours! Ours alone! Because of these stupid disorders that we had no say over whether we wanted them to begin with or not!"

In a burst of anger, Remilia crushes her quarter-eaten apple suddenly with the fist that is holding it. The apple juices drip down her left arm, and there are pieces and fragments of apple on her lap, on her bedsheet, and on the floor.

Yuuji sighs. "I'll take care of that."

Remilia stares blankly at the hand that crushed her apple as Yuuji takes a towel from the closet and wipes her lap, bedsheet, and floor as cleanly as possible and tosses away the pieces of apple into the trashcan.

"…sorry about this. My…disorder…gives me this kind of monstrous strength sometimes…whenever I get mad or stuff…so…" Remilia says in a low voice.

Yuuji does not reply. Remilia continues to speak as Yuuji finishes cleaning up after her.

"…anyway…the long hair thing…so yeah. Middle school was when I had long hair, and the only time. Until now."

"So you've never cut it once ever since you got here?"

Remilia nods. "Yep. I doubt it'll get cut, ever. Unless it gets absurdly long, but even then, I won't be surprised if they 'forget' to have my hair cut again."

Yuuji heaves the towel into the laundry basket and sits back in his usual chair.

Remilia holds up the ends of her long hair and looks at it. "…see, my hair's kind of like the story of my life, you know? Because if you think about it, my hair's like all the hate and anger, all the shit and pain I felt when and after I got my diagnosis. After I got caught tearing up those people for blood, I was treated like a rabid dog, basically. Isolated, quarantined, treated like anyone would treat a dog with rabies until my disorder subsided. To me, this long hair of mine is basically all the shit I had to deal with after my disorder got the better of me. And the fact that nobody's let me cut my hair is like the world forcing me to keep holding onto everything that I hate about the world – and everything that I hate about myself. My urge to drink human blood. My disorder. My spontaneous need to hurt and kill people."

Remilia tucks her knees deeper into her chest.

"Everyone saw the news that day, the day that I went around clawing up twelve people. All of that video footage…even my family didn't want anything to do with me. When they decided to throw me in here since they didn't want to get turned into vampires by their own daughter, I went back home to get my stuff so I could move in, and no one was home. I tried to call my friends, you know, get together one last time, but no one answered. The people who were escorting me – no, 'escorting' isn't the right vocab – _restraining_ me wouldn't even let me anywhere near places where there were lots of people, like the mall and restaurants and stuff. When I was being driven to this clinic for the first time, I saw one of my friends walking back home from school and rolled down the window to call out to her, but what does she do?"

Remilia begins to growl.

"She flips me off, screaming 'GO TO HELL, FUCKIN' VAMPIRE!' for _everyone _to hear. I bet you my life she let the whole damn block know. Since that street was a pretty common street for people from my school to take to walk back to their houses, everyone realized I was in the car and started jeering at me. Saying stuff like 'FUCK YOU, VAMPIRE' and other shit like that. Like, that's…that's just mind-boggling! She was one of my closest friends – we'd known each other since kindergarten – and it turns out that just one incident like this is enough to turn me into humanity's biggest fuckin' enemy to her. Like, seriously, what the hell!"

Yuuji says nothing. Remilia pauses for a moment before speaking again, sarcastically.

"So it was isolationism first when I arrived on Day One here at the clinic. Nobody talking to me and whatnot. That was fine, I could live with that, since I kind of expected that kind of treatment. It makes sense, doesn't it? No one wants to talk or much less interact with a monster, a monster you know for a fact is real, a monster who just happened to kill the girl Remilia Atelia and wear her skin from that day on. So the silent treatment is warranted, by all means -"

Yuuji raises his voice to interrupt. "Don't talk about it if it makes you angry."

Remilia raises her voice even higher. "And what? Let it sit inside my mind and my heart and let it rot? Let it fester so that the shit eats away at the organs that are called the brain and the heart that I apparently don't have, as far as everyone else's concerned?"

Remilia laughs again, bitterly.

"Who was it…didn't Harper Lee say that the world's just fine with killing us off, the mockingbirds? I mean, we're just annoying and not worth anyone's time, right? The only reason why they're keeping us alive is because they don't want us to go 'extinct', that it's inhumane to kill things just for the sake of killing. And that's why I'll go around saying what I want, even if it makes me pissed off, because hey, guess what! The world – everyone around me doesn't give a shit what I do or say, I'm a dead girl walkin'!"

Remilia glares at Yuuji.

"If that's true, then we're all mockingbirds here, you're forgetting." Yuuji is almost whispering.

"Maybe, but George Orwell said that some mockingbirds are more equal than others."

"You mean pigs."

"Same difference."

"Huh, okay then. Then in that case, are you implying that you're more important than the other people in the K.T.B. Ward? Because you're still intelligent enough to carry a decent conversation? Because you're still young and haven't turned into enough of a vegetable just yet? If that's the case, why do you think that way?'

"Blame the world. Blame life. The cruelty I've been shown, the cruelty I've lived with, the cruelty that got me here and killed the little humanity I had left after my disorder broke rampant – blame that. I'm just reciprocating it. And these other people in this ward? Fuck these people. Why would they care that I'm talking shit about them? You know why they call this the KTB ward right? The 'Kick-The-Bucket' Ward? They're basically wishing we can save them the trouble of looking after us until our hearts stop and just off ourselves. Even the bloody name wants us to die."

Remilia bites on her lower lip to calm herself down.

"So yeah…until they found out what was going on with me, I was locked in here. Before, I used to be really talkative. I much preferred being with friends or with people in general, you know, have someone to talk to. So when they confined me here, I was almost about to kill myself slamming my head against the door because I couldn't stand being alone for so long.'

Remilia points at her left eyebrow, where Yuuji can see a distinct scar.

"That's where I was hitting myself in the head against the door. I'd show you where against the door that I was banging my head, but they washed it off too well. But by the time found out what was wrong with me, it was too late. I'd become _this_…this bitter, depressed shell of a girl waiting for the end to come some day. I don't care if they find a cure, my life is too FUBAR'd for me to do anything even if my disorder was cured."

Yuuji watches as Remilia throws her hair aside in disgust and chuckles bitterly for the third time, the quietest of the rest.

"To everyone else, it's only natural, isn't it? I'm just getting what I deserve. There's nothing wrong with pissing on a vampire. There's nothing wrong with hanging Salem witches. There's nothing wrong about that, nothing at all."

A long silence hangs between them as Remilia buries her head into her knees, murmuring. "Because apparently, to everyone else, monsters exist. Me, you, everyone in this ward – we're all monsters. But that's just utter bullshit. The only monsters that truly exist are the people who think that monsters are real and do everything they can to get rid of the 'monsters'…to me, it's like they're all trying to lie to themselves to convince themselves that they have a right or something to take away our humanity cards and shit on us, shit on _me_."

"Hm, yeah, maybe you've got a point. Since we're only monsters, nothing we say is valid, so why are you talking as if your words are any more important? They're not supposed to mean anything significant, so why carry yourself as if they do?

Remilia raises her head and glares at Yuuji.

"Pardon me? What did I just hear?"

"I said that you're just talking 'utter bullshit'."

Upon hearing this, Remilia jumps off the bed and quickly stands over Yuuji.

"Pardon me? What did I just hear?" she repeats angrily.

"I said you're full of shit."

Remilia, losing her temper instantly, raises her right hand and swings it at Yuuji's left cheek, but Yuuji reacts quickly, catches her hand before it hits him, and pulls her into his arms suddenly.

"But so am I. Because if you're a monster, I'm one too."

"…are you at least going to let go of me? It's kind of uncomfortable like this, you know."

Yuuji relinquishes Remilia but quickly grabs hold of her body to turn her around and have her sit in between his legs so that he can continue to embrace her and, more importantly, keep her emotions at check.

"That should be better."

"…this isn't what I meant, either."

"It's not what you meant, but it's what you need. Now shut up and relax so I can continue. While I get that you hate the rest of the world for how they've treated you, if you hate the world in turn and spend the rest of your life doing so, you really will become what the world thinks you are."

"What's the difference, then? Your logic's flawed."

"It's not flawed when we assume that we are not fully monsters just yet. We still have a little bit of our humanity left in us."

Remilia laughs bitterly. "Oh yeah? How so? Tell me, I'm intrigued."

"The fact that you still know how to be angry proves it. Those who have lost their humanity don't know what emotions are anymore. They don't give a shit about what happens to them or to the world. They aren't people that can appropriately be labeled "humans" because they've forgotten what it means to be human because they've spend all their time sinking themselves deeper and deeper into the cesspool of hate and rage – the "monsters" that you were talking about. And as far as I'm concerned, you're still human in my eyes."

Remilia, after pausing for a moment, speaks in a low voice. "…really now. You're probably just saying that because you just want to cheer me up."

"It only makes sense, doesn't it? Only a monster can talk with another monster. Only a monster can cheer up another monster. In a world where humans in their right minds don't associate at all with those who have lost their humanity, only the damned can save the damned."

"So what does that make you, then? The next Messiah? You can't be it if you only talk to me, right?"

"I'm not a savior, nor am I going to try to be one. I once lost all my humanity once, much like you are now. And you know what? It scared me, because I didn't know what feeling absolutely nothing meant, and the feeling was foreign to me and I didn't like it. When I stopped feeling anything, the whole world felt cold. It scared me enough to go back to being human again. You, too, went all the way down there, but like me, you came back. I don't know how, and I won't ask how, but you still know how to talk to me. Maybe you're having a bit of fun talking with me, who knows – well, I guess you do. But if you weren't enjoying my company, why would I waste your time being in your room?"

Remilia smirks. "Hell is cold? I learned something new today."

"Hell is what you make of it. But in our cases, our hells are the similar, if not identical."

"Well, thank you, Captain Obvious."

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Clueless. Now I order you to keep that long hair of yours and learn to live with it. If you think of your long hair the way you told me, then there's really no way you can cut it, can you? Because if you do, that only means you're trying to escape your pains and ignore them, like those memories that you keep inside your heart to rot away. I don't even need to mention again what happens if you do that."

Remilia clicks her tongue in annoyance. "You're telling _me _what to do with _my_ hair? Now what makes you think you're any different from everyone else out there, huh? Forcing me to do this and that?"

"Because unlike them, I know that you'll be more inclined to listen to me, and unlike them, I'm willing to listen to you. Try to deny that, I dare you."

Unable to come up with a counter-response, Remilia falls quiet for a good minute or so. "You know…you never _had_ to listen to me, right…?" she says very quietly.

"…I know. I didn't have to. But it helped me pass the time here…and it helped me make a friend here, something I thought wasn't going to be possible at all in my life."

Remilia gently lays her head against Yuuji's collarbone so that his chin rests on top of her head.

"You sound like you've never had friends in your life."

"I didn't."

"Liar. Stop lying to me."

"I'm telling you, I'm not. When I was growing up, because of my disorder, I was always running around looking to cause trouble. 'Cause of that, obviously, I didn't really have anything, if anyone at all, to call 'friend'. I thought school was the most boring shit ever, so oftentimes I'd just ditch and go do something else, so I didn't have any friends there. Besides, I figured that if I was gonna get an education in anything, it was gonna be in something I actually gave a shit about."

"What did you learn, then? Or, what'd you teach yourself?"

"Things that you'd expect a thug to learn. Y'know, fighting and stuff like that. I got pretty good with a knife back in the day, and I knew some people who had guns, so I learned how to shoot from them. Oh, I learned how to pick locks, too, which I'm still good at. Usually, though, I'd just go around beating the shit outta people. I don't care for weapons or anything, just my fists were enough in most cases…"

Remilia snorts. "So in other words, you learned how to beat people up. That's a _fantastic_ education, I must say."

Yuuji grinds his knuckles against the top of Remilia's head.

"Hey, o-ow, ow! Stop it, stop! I get it, I get it!" Remilia yelps.

Yuuji stops. "Now that I look back, it wasn't the kind of education that I wanted. I guess I wish that I could've gotten a more normal one, y'know, staying in school and graduating. It's far better than living the life of a street thug who only knew how to kick the crap outta people for a living. Do you get why I say I had no friends back then?"

Remilia giggles. "Ha, sucks to be you, loner."

Yuuji grinds his knuckles against the top of Remilia's head again, causing her to groan.

"O-Okay, for God's sake, can you stop?! I'm just teasing you, what's with you?"

"Do you want me to tease you too, then?"

Remilia shakes her head. "No."

"Then why tease me?"

"Because I can."

"That's not fair."

"The world isn't; life isn't. Haven't you learned anything?"

"Hey, hey, that's what I should be telling you." He stands up. "Here, I'll give you your medication for today before I go back to my room."

Remilia glances at the clock on her wall. "Oh, it's about that time, isn't it. Okay…"

Remilia stands so that Yuuji can get off her bed and retrieve the syringe containing Remilia's medication for the day. She pushes her hair aside so that Yuuji can administer the medicine. She grunts as the needle enters her skin. "Is this time of the day, like, the time when you get all aggressive 'n stuff?"

Yuuji carefully pulls out the needle and wipes the small speck of blood. "Most likely, yeah. Though, I've been noticing that the times when I'm getting all hostile is overall decreasing."

Remilia turns to him. "Why?"

He shrugs. "My guess is that my body's starting to deteriorate with how much sugar my blood's producing. I've been feeling weaker and weaker over the years, too, so I have a feeling that I'm right somehow. Who knows – I'm still gonna die within three years, anyway."

Yuuji opens her door to return to his room, but Remilia stops him by calling out to him.

"Oh, Yuuji…"

He stops and turns to look back at Remilia. "Yeah?"

Remilia hesitates. "…um…have a good evening."

Yuuji stares. "…it's barely one thirty, Remilia. Are you okay?"

She suddenly gets angry. "Get out! Out! You idiot!"

And thus, with a red face, Remilia chases Yuuji out of her room.

* * *

Yuuji is sitting at his desk in front of his laptop, watching some TV shows online. He then hears footsteps in the ward corridor. He looks at his computer clock, and it reads 11:39pm. He knows that there should not be anyone outside at the moment, and if there was, it should only be a single nurse or doctor checking on the patients. This time, he hears three sets of footsteps, and Yuuji, slowly getting up from his desk, listens intently. He opens his door gingerly and without a sound to poke his head out and see what is going on. He sees again the shadows that he had seen earlier in the week, though this time there are three of them instead of two. And they are all outside Remilia's room again.

"Fucking bastards," Yuuji whispres to himself.

He looks around his room for a potential weapon. Grabbing the meter stick that a nurse had accidentally left in his room while taking his height measurement, Yuuji manages to slip outside noiselessly and presses himself against the dark walls of the corridor to remain unseen, the skills of his crime life kicking in again. As he draws closer to these shadows that he sees, Yuuji notices that the one in front of Remilia's door is trying to open the knob, even though it is locked. For some reason, the knob does not make a sound even though it should. As he gets within striking distance of these intruders, one of the shadows stands tall and begins to dart away, down the same path that the figures from before had taken to escape. But this time, Yuuji is too fast for them, dashing as fast as they as they rush down the corridor, with Yuuji in hot pursuit. They round the corner, and unlike last time, the figures do not disappear as they enter the more brightly lit corridor leading to the clinic's lobby, where the light from the street lamppost outside helps to illuminate this part of the clinic. This is where Yuuji realizes that there are many, many more of these shadows, waiting for him in this corridor, in plain view. They quickly converge on him, and seeing this as an act of aggression, Yuuji begins swinging his meterstick.

* * *

Some five minutes later, Yuuji is on his knees. The meterstick has broken in two splintery halves, his right hand holding one of those halves like a knife, and nothing remains in the corridor. There is blood running down his right arm from a cut on his right shoulder, and Yuuji is sweating profusely. He mutters to himself.

"Why hasn't anyone woken up…? I made so much noise just now…"

Standing with some difficulty, Yuuji begins picking up the pieces of the meterstick and disposes of them in a nearby trashcan. He walks to the bathroom to clean his wounds as best he can before returning to his room.

"_Or is this all just me? Am I the only one seeing them? Am I dying?_"

* * *

Yuuji is walking back from the head doctor's office to his room in the K.T.B. Ward, and he enters the lobby. There is a large bulge underneath his white T-shirt's right shoulder. He spots Remilia sitting in one of the seats by herself, staring up at the television screen on one of the lobby walls.

"Yo. Whatcha doin'?"

Remilia does not bother looking at him. "Nothing much, just watching some TV because there's nothing better to do."

He sits down next to Yuuji. "Isn't that what we all say."

"The ones who still know how to say anything, that is."

"If you put it that way…"

Remilia glances at Yuuji, narrowing her eyes at him. "What happened to your right shoulder?"

"This? Just a heating pad. My shoulder's been sore lately, and I haven't been able to figure out why, so I'm just keeping a heating pad there to see if it helps."

Remilia nods as she looks back up at the LCD television screen. "So why're you walking around? You'd be in your room right now, wouldn't you?"

"Got called in by Dr. Richmond about updates on their progress."

"And? What'd they say?"

"Still nothing yet. They're still looking, though."

She rolls her eyes. "Well, of course, no shit. That's what they always say, don't they? 'We don't have a cure but we're still working on it'."

"Yeah, if only I had some sort of medication I could take to buy myself some more time, right."

"Hey, stop guilt-tripping me."

"I didn't mean that, I swear…" Yuuji drones in an obviously deadpan and sarcastic tone.

They continue this banter while watching TV together until the clinic doors open, the doorbells jingling as Maribel Hearn, the clinic intern, enters. Remilia and Yuuji look up to see who it is. Maribel, upon recognizing Remilia, greets her awkwardly.

"Oh, um, h-hello! Er, are you…uh…Remilia…? Remilia, was it?"

Remilia raises an eyebrow, surprised that Maribel knows her name.

"Er, yes, that's…me…? Do I know you…?"

"Ah, oh, um…n-no, well, you don't, but…but I do. Er, let me introduce myself…" Maribel extends her hands and takes Remilia's left hand, shaking it. "I'm Maribel. Maribel Hearn. I'm actually working as an intern here, and um, I'm also working on a science fair project. And uh…I'm actually using your case as my science fair topic, so um, I was, uh, hoping you could work with me –"

"No," Remilia spits disgustedly as she withdraws her hand sharply and goes back to staring at the TV screen intently, doing her best to ignore Maribel, who stands there awkwardly, not knowing how to react to Remilia's rudeness."

"…erm…well…i-it was nice meeting you, Remilia. Maybe we can talk later, then?"

Remilia continues to ignore Maribel until the intern finally walks away awkwardly, leaving her bookbag with the security guard inside the security office and proceeds to the lab to continue her research. Yuuji watches her go.

"…why'd you act like that to her? She was only trying to ask for help."

Remilia starts grinding her teeth. "Why would I wanna help her? She could've been me, if it weren't for this fucking disorder of mine. Besides, she said that her project was focused on me, right? Doesn't that mean I'm just her damn guinea pig that she can dissect whichever way she wants just for her own goddamn science project? Uh-uh, nope, fuck that shit."

"You're saying that just because someone else who doesn't know your situation and circumstances reminds you of what you could've been means that you have the right to be a bitch to her?"

She glares at him. "Don't judge me. Call me a bitch if you want, but I can't help but get pissed off whenever I see her. And now that I know she's trying to make a science project out of me…" Remilia shakes with anger. "No way. No way in hell – I'd have to actually become a vampire before that'll happen."

"Just so you know, she'll probably talk with the Head Doc, and he'll make you work with her."

Remilia snaps at him. "And how the hell do you know this?"

"It's kind of obvious, isn't it? She's an intern here. Who's the person in this clinic who's most likely going to be her internship mentor? The Head Doctor. She'll need to consult with him for a project of any kind, and especially so since she mentioned you were her topic focus. So to me, at least, it makes sense. Besides…"

Yuuji swings his feet up and rests them on the low table in front of him and Remilia, in between stacks of magazines. He puts his hands behind his head and reclines.

"…you even mentioned that the world doesn't care for what you say, right? So why try to turn her down?"

"I thought you didn't bother going to school, Mr. Street-Life-Thug. What's this logic I'm hearing out of you all of a sudden?" Remilia retorts, still very annoyed.

"I was under the impression that one doesn't need school or any kind of formal education to learn deductive reasoning or analytical skills, Watson. Perhaps you can correct my misguidings?"

"Shut up already."

Just as Remilia tells her friend to shut up, the Head Doctor, Dr. Richmond, walks into the lobby from his office, with Maribel the intern close behind him, looking very nervous.

"Oh, why hello there, Remilia," Dr. Richmond says cheerily as Remilia facepalms.

"Ugh…fuck my life, here we go…"

Dr. Richmond approaches the patients and sits across from them, while Maribel stands behind him.

"So, Remilia. By your behavior, I'll assume you have already met Maribel. She has told me that you have refused her request to study you as part of her science fair project. I've come to ask why that is."

Remilia presses her teeth together. Maribel can clearly see her sharp canines, another aftereffect of her vampiric disorder.

"It's bad enough I'm stuck here for the rest of my worthless life dying from some disease that ruined my life. I honestly don't see why I should help her with her stupid project, Doctor," she says quietly.

"Well, certainly that is one way to put it, if you look at your situation from a very…brutal…perspective. But…honestly, Remilia, isn't the way you're acting childish right now? You have gone through so much, and because of it, you won't even help someone who is very much so interested in your case progress with her project? Perhaps she could even find a better form of treatment, or perhaps even a cure. Why must you act so heartless towards Maribel? She has done nothing wrong to you."

Yuuji glances at Maribel. She is clearly very much so on edge. Remilia, taking a deep breath, cracks her knuckles and sits up.

"Dr. Richmond, I understand that she…uh…Maribel, was it?...hasn't done anything wrong to me personally. But I've got a few things to say to this."

"Well, go on, then."

"First, you say that she could potentially find a better treatment or cure for my disorder. Uh, I beg to differ, Doctor. If your team of professional practitioners, physicians, pharmacists, and whoever else you've enlisted to study my disorder couldn't find anything better than the medication I'm taking right now for over a year now, I highly, highly doubt that _she_ can do any better. Please do not cajole me with such bullshit, empty words. Even you know that they're utter crap."

"Now, Remilia, there's no need for language like tha-"

Remilia cuts the doctor off. "Second, you called my behavior childish for refusing to cooperate with Maribel. I also beg to differ, Doctor. To me, that's not being childish. I am asserting what little decision-making abilities I have now. You remember, Doctor, when I was first brought here? They had me tied up and kicked me to my room, all the way from these doors to my left, down that corridor, and to Room 36. You remember that, don't you, Doctor?"

Dr. Richmond, at the mention of this event, turns pale and stutters. "Er, y-yes, I do…I do recall that…unfortunate event, yes…"

"So if my behavior here is childish, why have you allowed them to treat me like a dog? Like a monster that they shouldn't even touch except with their feet? Because at the time, I couldn't tell the difference between this clinic and an insane asylum. How would you describe that kind of behavior, then, Doctor?"

There is no response.

"And lastly…" Remilia sharply looks at Maribel, and they make eye contact. Maribel instinctively takes a step back, but Remilia gazes back at Dr. Richmond again. "The reason why I treated Maribel that way is because in my eyes, she's what I could've been. Maribel, how old are you right now?"

"Ah, um, me? Er, I'm…seventeen…"

"Then there you go, we're the same age. Dr. Richmond, she's what I could have, no, _should_ _have _been, if it weren't for this stupid disorder. Tell me, Doctor, why is it that I need to be so unlucky as to suffer an ailment that no one on the face of this Earth has ever seen or known before and have my _entire life_ become torn to pieces because of it? Why can't she suffer the same fate too, so that I know I'm not the only one who has to suffer like this? Why does _she_ get to live a normal life and go to science fairs and graduate from high school and all that shit, but not me?"

The conversation draws the attention of some of the nurses coming back from the K.T.B. Ward after taking care of some patients.

"If you can answer them, Doctor, then I'll work with Maribel. But because I know you can't answer them in a way that I find satisfactory, you can bet that Maribel won't be using me as an experiment. I've lived the past two years as a prisoner of this clinic; I'm not about to find out that I get to die as a guinea pig to some random high schooler's science fair project on top of that."

Maribel finds the courage to interject. "Um, Remilia, you know, uh…if…if it's too much for me to ask, then…I can just look for another science project topic…I'm sorry if I offended you…I didn't mean to…I just thought that, because you had a unique disease, it'd be interesting to study it…"

Remilia crosses her arms and curls her lip. "You didn't just offend me. You basically asked me to be your bitch. I hope you realize that. I bet you wouldn't like it if someone walked up to you and asked you to be their bitch for the rest of their life, right?"

Yuuji remains quiet as Dr. Richmond rubs his scalp.

"Hmm…well, clearly, it is a difficult task indeed to acquire your cooperation, Remilia. It's…it's a shame, but…it is your choice, after all. If you do not want to help Maribel with her research, then…so be it."

The Doctor turns to Yuuji.

"Erm…your name was…"

"Yuuji, Doctor," he answers quickly.

"Ah, yes, Yuuji. It seems you have made friends with Remilia, is that so?"

"Yeah. We've been talking together a lot."

"Well then! This is…just a…how should I say, small favor to ask –"

At this, Remilia snorts very loudly in condescendingly sarcastic laughter. Dr. Richmond ignores her.

"Could I ask you to talk with Remilia? See if you can convince her to change her mind? I've been working with Maribel for around a year now, you see, and I'd love to see her make a fantastic project, and I see a lot of potential in this one. But…as you can, uh, see, we're having some difficulty with the one person that her project hinges on. Could you do that for us? For Maribel? I understand that there are some…difficult things that, you know, clearly complicate this matter, but…it would be very nice if Maribel could proceed with her project. She's been looking for one for a long time now."

The doctor leans in closer to Yuuji so that only Yuuji can hear him.

"But that's not all. At this particular science fair Maribel will be participating in, whoever wins first will have the privilege to work with the best researchers in the country, scientists who have far better technology and equipment with which to work on a treatment or possible cure for the both of you. If Maribel indeed does win first place, she will most definitely work on a cure or treatment for your diseases when she is able."

Yuuji whispers back. "Okay, but why not tell Remilia this too? Why only tell me?"

"I'm sure you know her well enough by this point, but I'm afraid that if I were to mention this to her, she would only laugh in my face. She is…that kind of person."

Yuuji nods. "That's true, yeah. I can't give any guarantees, Dr. Richmond, but I'll try to."

The head doctor stands up and claps his hands once. "Good! I will count on you. Maribel, let's return. We need to get to logging our shipments of supplies we received yesterday…"

Yuuji watches the head doctor and the intern walk back to the small laboratory, but Remilia is glaring especially keenly at Yuuji, hissing at him.

"Don't you fucking dare."

"I will. Sorry, Remilia, but honestly, I think you should help Maribel out."

At this, Remilia groans painfully.

"What the fuck…aren't friends supposed to back each other up in times like this? What the hell happened with that?"

"To me, friends are there to correct you and make sure you don't go around hurting people or yourself. That's what I'm here for."

"How was I going too far? What the crap, I even gave them reasons why I didn't wanna be her damn guinea pig, what's wrong with that?!"

"The fact that you gave reasons isn't what's wrong here. It's the reasons themselves. You're refusing to cooperate solely because of your own selfish emotions. You're not going to work with Maribel just because you're jealous of where she's at, of her position right now. You see yourself in her and wish that you were her and wonder why you aren't her. You see where I'm going with this? All of your reasons explain only your own perspective, and they don't address hers. How do you expect people to know what you've been through if you yourself don't even know what they're going through right now?"

"I don't care. There's no freakin' way Maribel has got it worse than me. No way in hell."

"That may be a safe assumption to you, but do you really expect Maribel to understand your perspective? By the sounds of it, Maribel's been looking for a long time for a science project topic that she's willing to work on, but in her perspective, the one person that can give the green light to her project is you. So in that sense, you two are the exact same. You have no control over this one crucial aspect of your lives that will forever dictate your futures. Do you see where I'm going with this, Remilia?"

Remilia is silent. Yuuji can sense that her anger is now largely replaced with unease.

"By refusing to work with Maribel, Remilia, you're basically saying that you're just another cruel human being. You're no different than the people who kicked you from this lobby all the way to your room. You're being ignorant and stubborn right now."

Remilia faces him suddenly and starts growling. "I'd like to see _you_ get kicked in the stomach from here down that corridor to your room, asshole! You seriously think I'm like _those _fuckers!?"

Then, Remilia realizes that Yuuji is glaring back at her, something she has never seen him do until now.

"You might not be _exactly _like them, but from what I can tell, you're kicking Maribel in the stomach, figuratively speaking, over and over, by insulting her and her project. Tell me how different your words were compared to those guys who treated you like that, then. And don't ever challenge me in a contest like that. I highly doubt you've ever taken bullets or been stabbed before in your life, Remilia."

Remilia falls silent again.

"Did I ever say how good you are at guilt-tripping people?"

"I recall you mentioning that once or twice, but does it look like I care? That's not what's important right now; what's important is if you'll work with Maribel or not. So? Will you? I don't want to have to keep bitching with you over something that doesn't even concern me."

Finally, Remilia relents, growling loudly in frustration.

"Okay, okay, fine, I get it, I get it! I'll work with her because I'm not a douchebag! You happy now, you Good Samaritan? Is that what you wanna be called?"

Yuuji then stands up, ignoring her. "Alright, then I'll walk you to their office so you can tell them."

"Why? They can come here! I'm not moving!" But Yuuji again ignores her.

"Up you go."

Yuuji lifts up Remilia in his arms easily due to Remilia's small body and begins walking to Dr. Richmond's office amidst the girl's cries to put her down.

* * *

Yuuji is sitting at his usual chair next to the table, drinking some water in a label-less plastic bottle. Remilia is lying down on her back on her bed again, her right hand over her forehead.

Remilia mutters, "I just don't get why you're so nosy."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Why'd you have to force me to work with her? It's got nothing to do with you."

"To you, it may not look like it's got anything to do with me. And yeah, I'm not going to deny that I am being a nosy prick. But if being a nosy little prick's what it takes for me to prevent myself from seeing another sad face again, I'll do it."

Remilia turns her head at him. "Channeling your inner tragic hero, huh?"

"Just saying what's on my mind."

"Then if you are, explain to me why you made me work with that Maribel girl. It's not 'cause you have a crush on her or anything, is it?"

Yuuji shakes his head. "No, that's not it. You know how I told you that I used to be a thug, right?"

"I honestly still can't picture you as one, but yeah, you did…"

"Believe it or not, I don't care, but I did some pretty bad shit back then. Carjacking, robbing, handling weed and other drugs, beating up other gangbangers who tried making a move on me. You know, typical crap that someone living the street life would do. But I didn't care, it was all thrilling and fun, even if I did have to come home with more than just a few scratches and stabs wounds. Because of my disorder, I didn't really grasp the emotional side of it all. The pain I caused the people and the ones they cared about, the ones I attacked or killed or whatever. It didn't really hit me until I had this one contract that I accepted from a guy who wanted someone – I think he was his business rival or something – dead. So I went to that guy's house one night and shot him through the head. But he had a kid, a daughter. She saw me put a bullet in her dad's cranium, and I watched her cry her eyes out over his dead body. That was when I realized I hated seeing people cry like that."

Remilia muses quietly. "How old was she?"

"Mmm…I'd have to say…she looked around ten or so."

"I see. Well, you certainly don't sound like you're apologetic. Neither do you look it, so…"

"I was always bad at showing emotion on my face – you probably won't be able to tell what I'm feeling just by looking at me. But don't worry, I'm not a robot yet."

"If you say so…you've always got that deadpan look on your face all the damn time anyway."

"After I killed that guy, I realized that I didn't want this thug life after all. I mean, it was exciting, it was thrilling, but now that I lived from that point on with the knowledge that whenever I hurt someone, I also probably made someone else sad, maybe like a relative or someone, I felt downright dirty. Even if I just held a gun, I felt like a murderer just killing people for the sake of killing, even though in reality I've only ever used guns because I needed to or was told to. It sucked, so I just stopped and tried going back to living a normal high school life. But whenever my disorder kicked in, I just went around beating people up again…"

"And now you're here."

"You follow nicely, I like it."

"Yeah, well, that's a nice sob story 'n all, but what's that gotta do with me? Why'd you decide all of a sudden to 'convince' me to work with Maribel? Like, what the hell?"

"Because I didn't want you making the same mistake I always made. You didn't want to work with Maribel because you didn't see any point in you helping her, and you felt like she was using you. But she didn't have any intention of insulting you and just wanted help with a science project that clearly means a lot to her. You're going to deny her something that important to her just because you think she's insulting you?"

Remilia raises her voice. "And that's what I don't get! Why're you telling me to, you know, be all nice and cooperative with someone I don't even know or care about? It's not like anyone gave _me_ any preferential treatment when I got thrown in this jail of a clinic! Why should I be nice to _her_?! For fuck's sake!" Clearly agitated by Yuuji's words, Remilia scratches her head furiously. "On top of which, why do you expect me to take _your_ word? Didn't you just spend the last five minutes telling me you were once a heartless son of a bitch who went all Scarface on a girl's dad at one point? I mean, come on! At least make this whole situation make sense, you know? Like, fucking seriously, all this hypocrisy, just wow, man! I mean, I know you said that you're just trying to help me, but even if I say I understand, I just don't want to! I just don't! It's not like if I help this girl with her stupid science fair project that I'll be able to survive, you know? Is it because you're, like, altruistic or something? Let me make my own decisions! Like I said, it's not like the rest of the world cares about what I have to decide on, since I'll be dead in two years anyway!"

A short silence follows before Yuuji speaks again.

"I don't know about you, Remilia. But what I want and what I'm trying to do is just to make the world a little bit happier of a place to live in. Even if I myself am not gonna last much longer here, I believe that my own untimely death isn't enough of a reason to deny others of happiness, too. That's what I want, and although I probably don't know you enough yet, I'll say that you're the exact opposite. You don't care if the world burns tomorrow. You're not bothered if you're the reason why some girl can't find another suitable science project topic and fails her class or whatever. You don't care at all. That's what I want to change. I want you to care, because like you said, you could've been that girl. And if you were Maribel, what would you think if the one person you need to depend on for your project just flat-out refuses to help you?"

"I'd look for another topic. Can't be that hard, can it?"

"You think it'd be that easy? How do you know that?"

"Hey, it's not my fault if that girl's too stupid and stubborn to go find another topic in case you weren't here."

"You think so? What if Maribel really wanted to study your disease for her project?"

"That's not my fucking problem, damn it! And stop with those 'what if's', they're really annoying!" Remilia is contemplating whether it is worth her effort to start slapping Yuuji.

"…alright, then. I'll drop the subject." Yuuji picks a banana and tosses it at Remilia, who deftly catches it. "I hope you still remember what I said to you earlier today. Keep this up, and you're no different than the people who treated you like shit when you were first diagnosed."

Remilia hisses at him. "Hey, fuck you. I don't go around kicking people in the stomach for being a monster, do I?"

Yuuji stands to leave. "No, but from what I can tell, you go around being a bitch to people because you couldn't be what you wanted to be. That's the thing I want you to get rid of, that cycle of reciprocating hate that'll reduce us down to the level of true monsters. You're not a monster yet, Remilia, but I have no problem calling you one if you want. All I ask is that you continue to help Maribel with her project. You can curse and swear at me all you want, but don't deny someone else of their success and happiness just because you don't feel like you can."

The door to Remilia's room shuts, and Remilia, eating her banana grumpily, closes her eyes in anger.

"…what's his problem…"

* * *

Yuuji enters Dr. Richmond's office to find both the doctor and his intern student, Maribel, waiting for him inside.

"You called for me, Doc?"

"Why, yes, we did, my boy. Come on in."

Yuuji sits next to Maribel, facing the head doctor.

"What can I help you with?"

"Well, you see, Yuuji, my team and I were supposed to be working on your case today, but…it seems some of my colleagues have other priorities. So, instead, we decided that Maribel here can take over for us. She has shown interest also in your case, since it seems you and Remilia share some traits in regards to your diseases. This way, Maribel can kill two birds with one stone."

"By 'working on my case', you mean taking samples."

"Well, I'll be doing that part."

"So will you be doing that now, or when?"

"Um, preferably soon –"

Dr. Richmond interrupts her. "Maribel, you can get started as soon as I have a word with you about a few things first. Yuuji, my boy, why don't you go wait in the patient examination room first? Maribel will be on her way shortly."

Yuuji nods and exits the office. Dr. Richmond then puts on a look of grave seriousness and turns to Maribel.

"Maribel, listen to me carefully. We're entrusting you with this research for now until we have full investigated Remilia's case. As I mentioned before Yuuji came, we think we might have a proper treatment for Remilia's disorder, possibly a cure if we're lucky. Do make sure not to make any mistakes, yes?"

Maribel nods.

"More importantly, I have been notified by some of our nurses that they have been finding signs of disturbances throughout the clinic. One of them found pieces of a broken meterstick in a trashcan when nobody recalls such a thing being broken during daytime. Another found one of the back windows with a nasty crack in it. One of them even found what looked like a dried streak of blood on one of the walls inside the K.T.B. Ward's bathrooms, the men's bathrooms, up on the ceiling. We don't have any answers to this, but judging by when they were first reported, I can only assume that they happened during the night."

"Um…uh-huh…" Maribel appears slightly confused.

DR. RICHMOND

"I'm not trying to scare you here, Maribel, but I have my suspicions that Yuuji is the one behind this."

"Him? But…why do you think that?"

"The profile check I received when he was first admitted to this clinic indicated signs of extremely aggressive behavior, firstly. These are all clearly signs of violence we have on our hands. Secondly, on the day that one of our nurses found the broken meterstick, we had talked with Yuuji and Remilia about your project. Do you remember what Yuuji had on his right shoulder?"

Maribel shakes her head. "Umm…sorry, Doctor, I…I don't have the memory for those kinds of details…"

"He had a bandage on there, claiming it was a heating pad. Heating pads don't bulge that way – I'd know, since I use them all the time at home. Also, it doesn't make sense for him to use that kind of alibi, because that bandage is obviously hiding a wound of some sort, a flesh wound, I'd venture to guess. If he had said it was an ice pack, it'd've made more sense, since you don't apply heat to a wound like that – at least, not at that stage."

"S-So…what does this mean, Doctor?'

"t means that Yuuji is clearly doing something at night that we don't know about, at least, not yet. Maribel, I want you to look for anything that might explain why Yuuji is acting like this."

"D-During the night? But don't we have security cameras that have infra-red or whatever? Surely they'd see anything at night if he's up and about…"

The head doctor shakes his head. "Well, that's what we thought at first, but when I reviewed the security tapes with the guard who was on duty that night, the cameras showed only blurs of someone running around in the K.T.B. Ward, whom I'm assuming to be Yuuji. I'd also venture to guess that his blood is more special than we think…"

"But did the guard hear anything?"

"Somehow, the guard didn't. He claims that if anything happened, he would've heard easily, an assumption I don't blame him for having. But I've instructed him to do rounds of the corridors and whatnot, just in case anything else fishy happens."

The head doctor leans forward, closer to Maribel.

"Even though they're terminally ill patients, Maribel, I don't want anything to happen to them. They shouldn't have to die these violent and absurd deaths – the least they deserve is a peaceful passing into another world where hopefully they are more fortunate. Same thing goes for Yuuji and Remilia, the two you're working with. We have no idea what's going on, Maribel, so that's why I need you to do your best here, okay?"

Maribel nods slowly.

* * *

A week has passed since Remilia's reluctant acceptance of being Maribel's test subject, courtesy of her friend Yuuji. Maribel has researched as much as she could with Remilia's blood samples, trying to figure out more about it. Today, Remilia is with Maribel again, as the intern gives the patient some milk and cookies.

"Here you go," Maribel says, and Remilia immediately pops one cookie into her mouth.

"Fhanks."

Maribel takes the two syringes of blood samples she has just taken from Remilia's arm and squeezes their contents into two test tubes that she then places in a centrifugal machine. She pushes a button, and the machine begins humming quietly as it spins the test tubes rapidly to separate the blood cells apart from the other cells.

"Thanks for your cooperation today, Remilia."

Remilia says nothing back at first, aimlessly chewing on her cookie."So you find anything yet?"

"Er…no, unfortunately, not yet. Most of what I've found so far is simply confirming what Dr. Richmond's team found initially."

"Thought so. Heh, well, good luck 'n keep at it, I'm sure you'll find something," Remilia says, smirking darkly and sarcastically.

"Thank you. I'll do my best." Maribel does not recognize Remilia's sarcasm as she walks to the counter and picks up her clipboard containing her notes and other vital research papers."

"Though, Remilia, I did find something that you might find interesting."

"Mmm? And that is?"

Maribel flips through some papers. "Well…I was speaking with Yuuji earlier this week, because I noticed that on his clinic profile, he also carries a rare blood disorder like you. When I read upon Dr. Richmond's description of it, it really seemed like your blood disorders are related somehow…"

"What the hell? You think having complete opposite syndromes is being related?"

"But I can't help but think that this kind of circumstance isn't a coincidence. Both of you have unique blood diseases that no one's seen before, and they just so happen to be the exact opposite of one another. Your disease is caused by a lack of blood sugar, while his is because of an excess. Because of that, I've also asked for his participation in my proje-"

Remilia slams her cup of milk on the side counter next to the examination bed, splashing what little milk remains inside in microscopic droplets all around her.

"You bitch. This stupid "research project" of yours was only supposed ta involve me. And now you're goin' off 'n dragging someone else into this, someone who also happens to be my only friend here? What the fuck is wrong with you, huh? Why'd you have to bring him into this?!"

Maribel, frightened by Remilia's outburst of anger, backs away slightly from Remilia stammering. "Um…it's because…well…it…it only makes sense, doesn't it? I was…I was thinking that maybe…just…maybe there's something in both of your diseases that we can find that'll help…I don't know…"

Remilia glares at Maribel before finishing her last cookie.

"Whatever. That's what he gets for forcing my ass into your project. So? Did you find anything else?"

"Um…yes, only one more thing, but…it's…it's kind of serious…"

"Huh? Serious? What do you mean?"

"Er…let me ask this first, though: have you seen Yuuji acting weird or strange or anything lately?"

"…uh…" Remilia tries to remember. "There…there was this one time when he woke me up in the middle of the night…he said, like, there were rats or something outside my room and he was chasing the off, or something like that…and on the day that he convinced me to work with you, I saw him wearing a heat pad on his shoulder, even though it's basically summer now…didn't make much sense, but he said his shoulder was sore, so…and he's been looking really tired and exhausted lately, even though he's been going to sleep super early…" Remilia looks back up at Maribel. "Why? Why's that so important?"

Maribel speaks gravely. "I took a blood sample from him yesterday and did some preliminary tests on them to see what I could find, and his blood contains trace amounts of certain substances that are known to cause hallucinations and delusions, much in the way that drugs like LSD or crack can. I don't know how they got there, but those substances were present at levels that can definitely make Yuuji start seeing things that may or may not be there."

"What the fuck? How'd you just learn of this shit now? Wasn't the Doc supposed to find that out the moment Yuuji came here? How do you know that he's got a rare blood disorder and not know he might be trippin' balls or something?"

"Dr. Richmond said that his team was too preoccupied already with your case to study yours, so he let me do it for them. They would've found out immediately, too, if they had decided to work on Yuuji first."

"Then did you tell the Doc? Does he know?"

Maribel nods.

"Well, for all I know, he's not acting weird enough where I'd start wondering what the hell he's thinking, but I'd understand if it's gonna become something serious. I'm assuming this is something you want me to look out for?"

Maribel nods again.

"Please keep a good eye on him. I, uh, don't mean to say this in a derogatory way, but only you two are…well…friends to each other. I'm not asking you to be his supervisor or anything, but in case you notice that he's doing something weird or anything of the sort…"

"Huh, yeah, sure, I'll do that."

"Thank you. This'll be all for now."

Remilia hops off the examination bed and walks back to her room, thinking to herself.

"He might be having hallucinations? But what's he hallucinating about? He can't have drugs here, even if he's a drug addict without me knowing, the nurses check our rooms every day for any smuggled stuff, since some of the other patients tend to do that. Hey, and for all I know, I could be trippin' balls soon here too, seeing that our diseases are _related_ or something stupid like that…"

Remilia returns to her room.

* * *

Again, at midnight. Yuuji's room door opens, and Yuuji pokes his head outside.

"It's about that time again."

Putting a shoe in between the door frame and the door to prevent himself from getting locked out, Yuuji sneaks down the dark corridor in socks to maintain a low profile. In his hand is a small but very sharp medical scalpel that he pilfered from the examination room on the first day that Maribel took some blood samples from him.

"Where are they, where are they, where are they, where are they…"

Slinking along the dark side of the wall with his scalpel in a backhand grip, the head of the knife edge facing downwards from the bottom of his fist, Yuuji crouches just before Room 36. His eyes, well-adjusted to the darkness of the clinic, lie in wait patiently for any disturbance in the nightly silhouettes of the corridor. He waits like this for a good hour.

"There they are."

The first shadow, then the next, then another six comes walking like zombies down the corridor from both ends, sandwiching Yuuji in between their march. Having done this before, Yuuji counts the seconds inside his head until the first enigma notices his presence.

"…five…four…three…two…one…"

Timing his pounce perfectly, Yuuji leaps on the nearest such creature and plunges the scalpel into where its head would be. It passes through the shadowy creature with eerie silence, but goops of black substance splashes out like mud from Yuuji's attack as he rips the scalpel out sideways and attacks the next. As the shadows attempt to retaliate, Yuuji dances in and out of the crowd, felling his enemies one after another in relative silence, only his quiet grunts and heavy breathing breaking the empty silence. He watches as his weapon splatters the black goo that the shadows that he sees are made of against the walls of the ward, but they somehow keep coming. Their numbers are endless.

Then, one of the shadows manages to tackle him and slam him against the wall, across from Remilia's room door. The thud is loud enough for the nightguard in the security booth in the clinic lobby to hear, and alarmed by the noise, the guard walks to the K.T.B. Ward to investigate. Equipping his baton and turning on his flashlight, the guard shines his light up and down the corridor of the ward, but finds nothing, not even a single trace of a struggle or any sort of violence. Then, his light flashes on the door of Room 24, Yuuji's room.

"I swear I saw that door close…" the guard mutters.

Walking up to the door, the guard sees that it is fully closed and locked. Pulling out the master keys just in case, the guard unlocks the door and peers inside. He spots Yuuji in his bed, with his back to the door.

"Hmm…"

Closing the door, the guard returns to his booth. What he doesn't realize is that Yuuji is biting his lip underneath his covers, grasping his clean scalpel in his left hand and his head with his right, and that blood is oozing through Yuuji's fingers on his right hand.

* * *

Remilia stares intently at Yuuji. They are both sitting in her room.

"Yuuji."

He peels a tangerine. "…Remilia, you're a bit close to me. I can hear you just fine."

Remilia's nose is practically a hair's width away from Yuuji's as she glares at him standing up. Yuuji is seated in his usual chair at Remilia's table.

"Yuuji."

"I can hear you just fine, Remilia, what do you want?"

She points to his head wound. "Explain."

Yuuji raises a hand to feel the nasty bump on his head where he had hit the wall the night before.

"Don't worry about it. I hit the side of my closet pretty hard without knowing it was that low yesterday. You know how low it is."

"Utter bullshit. That's a horrible lie, and you know it."

"Who are you to call my words utter bullshit?"

"You were the one who told me that all I ever say is "utter bullshit", so obviously I'd know when anyone else talks "utter bullshit", am I right, or am I right?"

"Touche."

"No, but seriously, Yuuji, stop trying to hiding whatever it is that you're hiding from me. It's getting more and more obvious that you're doing something that no one knows about but you."

Yuuji pops a tangerine piece into his mouth and chews slowly, letting the juice seep into his mouth.

"I see you more and more tired everyday, and you've been leaving me earlier and earlier. What's wrong with you? Like, seriously, tell me. It's not like I'll tell anyone."

Yuuji gives a rare grin. "Don't tell me that you miss me whenever I leave, haha."

Remilia immediately slaps Yuuji right on his head wound, causing him to cringe and grit his teeth in pain.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm trying to look out for you here, and you're talking nonsense? Have you any manners, bitch?!" Remilia is slightly red-faced.

"Yes, yes, because a lady who just called me a bitch will surely teach me this thing that people call 'manners'…"

Remilia is about to clout him again in the same spot but decides not to. Instead, she jumps back onto her bed, irritated.

"Don't play dumb to me, Yuuji. You do realize that everyone's gotten wind of what you're doing, y'know? They're going to be monitoring your every move soon. I don't know what it is that you're trying to do, Yuuji, but you won't be doing it for much longer."

He smirks. "And you know this, how?"

"Maribel told me the other day. They know you're up to something, they've noticed. She's asked me to keep an eye on you."

He sighs. "Goddamn, Remilia…since when did you start caring? Holy shit."

"What? Since when did I start caring? Bitch, please! You're the one who told me to start being nice to people, wasn't it? What's with you now? You're telling me to start being nice to people and you're trying to hide something from me and everyone? What's with you, you damned hypocrite? I mean, I'll be honest, I'm not the most pleasant of people to work with, but I'm gettin' along just fine with Maribel now! In fact, it's gettin' kinda interesting working with her, now that I've given it a chance! But when I ask you what's going on, you wanna keep it a secret all of a sudden? I don't get it! What's there to keep a secret about? We're both kids on figurative death row, waiting for the day where we fall over dead! So what're you so desperately trying to keep quiet about? Tell me, damn you!"

But Yuuji does not answer. He simply continues eating tangerines silently, making Remilia become more and more aggravated.

"Look, you were the one who told me to help out Maribel with her project, right? So why aren't you letting me help you out; you, the only other person I call a legit friend here? Why won't you let me help you? I mean, I at least care for you enough as a friend to ask what's up, right? Don't I deserve at least some sort of reply? An honest answer's all I fucking want! I'm honest all the time, even if it's not exactly the most appropriate way to behave! And now you're just gonna give me the silent treatment? After all those times of you preaching to me to be nice to people? You're not being nice to me, damn it! You're not going to let anyone help you out if you're going to sit there like a dumb idiot eating _my _tangerines in _my _room, asshole!"

Then, Yuuji stands up quickly and makes for the door. Remilia starts to yell.

"Hey – wait, where're you going? Answer me at least, you little shit! Hey! HEY!"

But Yuuji pays her no heed and walks out to the corridor. Remilia quickly follows him out to watch him head for his own room. Before he enters his room, however –

"THEN KEEP TRIPPIN' ACID! I DUNNO WHAT YOU'RE SEEIN', BUT YER OFF YER DAMN ROCKER, DIPSHIT! I OFFERED TO HELP, JUST LIKE HOW YOU TRIED HELPING ME! YOU MIGHT THINK I'M AN ANNOYING ASSHOLE, BUT NOT LETTING SOMEONE ELSE HELP YOU'S AN EVEN DOUCHIER THING TO DO, AIN'T IT?!" Remilia hollers down the corridor.

This causes Yuuji to freeze in his tracks, just as he is entering his room.

"I don't remember saying that there was only ever one way to help people, Remilia. I knew you were a bitch, but I didn't expect you to be a complete idiot."

Yuuji closes the door behind him, leaving a confused Remilia still standing in the middle of the ward. Then, Remilia hears Maribel's voice behind her.

"Oh, Remilia, hello. Did I…er…come at the wrong time…?"

Remilia shakes her head. "No, n-not really. What do you want? Actually, isn't it only morning? What're you doing here so early, aren't you supposed to be at school right now?"

"Dr. Richmond talked to my science teacher about the nature of my project, so my teacher told my school to give me clearance to come here instead on designated research days to work more on my project. I just wanted to let you know that I found some results from the tests I've done so far, and I wanted to share them with you."

"Oh, right. Yeah, sure, let's hear them…"

* * *

Inside the examination room...

"So this is what I've found, Remilia. Apparently, both your and Yuuji's blood disorders share almost the exact same missing genome sequences in your blood cells' DNA. They're only off by the very last letters, but other than that, they're the same. This means that, by whatever weird coincidence, your diseases are definitely related to each other – they just have opposite causes because of their genetic sequencing."

"Okay…" Remilia says, unsure of Maribel's point.

"Now that that's out of the way, I'm going out on a limb to say that whatever Yuuji is seeing lately, you can see too."

This takes Remilia back by surprise. "…uh…huh? But wait, why do you say that…?"

Maribel shrugs. "I…don't know, honestly. There's no scientific basis for me to say this, but…I mean, seeing how similar your disorders are on a genetic level, something tells me that you should be able to see what Yuuji sees. I could be very wrong about this, because your blood contains no such substances that Yuuji's blood does that causes him to hallucinate. But…just in the off-chance that you're able to see…his…well, um…hallucinations…"

Maribel speaks the last sentence rather quietly.

"All I'm saying is, um…to be on the lookout. I've been told by Dr. Richmond that more things have been happening…so…"

A drawn-out silence hangs between them. Then, Remilia says quietly.

"…you shouldn't really have emotions for people like us, Maribel."

"H-Huh?" Maribel looks up.

"I said, you shouldn't care about us. People like me. The guys on terminally ill status. We're all gonna die within a couple of years anyway. I know that you're trying to help us out, but…we're just going to cause you more heartache in the end."

"…are you saying it's wrong for me to try to save your lives…?"

At this, Remilia is taken back.

"Er…what do you mean…save our lives? There's no cure for either of our diseases, and I doubt there'll ever be one. Both of us have accepted that we're gonna die soon. So why…why are you trying to, well, save us? You know you can't. Everyone knows."

"But I can try, can't I?!" Maribel suddenly begins to shout, immediately shutting Remilia up.

"I can certainly try, right, Remilia? You're not dead right now! Yuuji's not dead yet right now! That means that I still have time, that I still have a chance! I know that the odds of me finding a cure are basically next to nothing, but still…still!"

Another tense silence ensues.

"Hey, Maribel…" Remilia says.

"I…I'm sorry, I lost myself there…"

"No, that's fine, I don't care about that. Let me ask you, why is it that you care for people like us? Even if you give us a cure, even if you do save our lives, why do you want us so desperately to live? Even if we do get cured, when we go back to the world outside, the stigma's still going to stick with us. What I did before getting thrown in here's going to follow me around wherever I go, and you're fully aware of what I did to those people. I just want to know what makes you so motivated to help us, to save us. Why, Maribel? Why?"

Maribel pauses before speaking again.

"When…when I was in middle school…I had a friend named Renko. She and I were best friends; we'd do everything together. Then, she suddenly contracted leukemia at the start of eighth grade. Everyday during eighth grade, I visited her at her house, taking care of her as best I could, but her family told me that her doctors predicted that she wouldn't last for much longer. She died in my arms on the last day of school, when my graduation ceremony started."

"…sorry to hear that."

"Before she died, Renko told me to go out and make more friends. Before she got sick, Renko was virtually my only friend. She wanted the best for me and wanted me to find someone that would replace her once she was gone…she even said that she felt guilty for being my only friend, for having monopolized me for so long. So that's why I decided to intern to become a doctor one day. To make sure that I can at least try to go out and save people, especially people like you and Yuuji. I think it's absolutely one of the most tragic things that life can do, that you have to die so young just because of a random disease. That's why I want to try to save you…because if I see you guys die, I feel like I'd've let my friend Renko down. I'd feel like I'd've broken my promise to her…"

Maribel wipes a stray tear from her eye.

"…but even then…even still, why put in the effort? You know that we most likely can't be saved. I'm not trying to downplay any of your efforts, but…we all know that…we're already dead, basically. So why even try? For people you don't even know?"

"Because trying is better than sitting back and simply watching people die. I know that I can't save everyone, so I want to help you two, because you're my and Renko's age, if she were still alive. You could've my friends in high school; I can't help but think that. That just makes me want to work harder for you guys. Even if in the end I end up not being able to do anything for you, I can at least still go to Renko's grave and tell her that I, at the very least, tried my best, because it's what she'd've wanted too."

Maribel looks up at Remilia.

"And would…would it be so wrong to say that you're my friend too? Because even if you don't think so, I still see you as a friend. Even if we've only known each other for a short time. So to me, I'm not saving a stranger. I'm saving someone I care about, because you're my friend…it's not wrong to save a friend, right…?"

Remilia stays silent for a moment.

"…you're a good friend, you know that, Maribel?"

"Huh?"

"I said, you're a good friend," Remilia chuckles softly. "I'm sure Renko would be glad to see how you turned out."

Maribel stares blankly at Remilia. Then, to Remilia's horror, she starts crying right in front of her.

"That's…th-that's not meant to be s-sarcastic or a-a-anything, right? Right? Y-You actually mean that, right?" Maribel gasps, and Remilia, flustered, tries to calm her down.

"Uh, um, yeah, I'm not trying to be a douchebag right now, so stop crying! You're making me feel bad, so please, don't cry, okay? Okay?"

But Maribel bursts into tears anyway, bear-hugging an extremely flustered Remilia in the process.

* * *

That night...

Remilia is sleeping in her bed when she is awoken by a small rapping on her door. At first she ignores it, but it continues, getting slightly louder and louder. Finally, it gets loud enough to the point where Remilia cannot fall back asleep, and she gets up from her bed.

"What the hell, who's knocking on my door _this_ late…?"

Grumpily trudging across her room, she stands on tiptoes and peers through the peekhole. What she sees on the other side causes her to almost shriek out in horror as she recoils in fright, stumbling backwards a few steps.

There is an emaciated young girl dressed in a black dress, covered in blood and water, staring back at her through the other end of the peekhole, smiling like a creepy doll, as if trying to mimic the girl from the well. She, too, like Remilia, has the same strange hue of lavender hair.

Remilia yelps out in fright as suddenly, her door is being barraged by multiple fists banging loudly against her door. Apparently there are more than just that one girl that Remilia had seen through the peekhole. They all begin chanting in monotone voices:

"Death to monsters! Monsters go to hell! Death to monsters!"

Remilia begins screaming, not knowing what is going on. "N-NO! GO AWAY! I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE! STOP BANGING ON MY DOOR, YOU BASTARDS! STOP! STOP, STOP STOP STOP STOP! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! GO AWAAAAAAAY!"

But the girls outside are unrelenting as their words bore themselves deeper and deeper into Remilia's ears.

"We're here to take you to the other side! Come down to hell with us! It's where monsters like us belong! One of us, one of us!"

"SH-SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU, SHUT THE FUCK UP! I'M NOT A MONSTER! YOU'RE THE MONSTERS HERE, YOU ALL CAN GO TO HELL WITHOUT ME! I'M NOT ONE OF YOU, SO LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M NOT A MONSTEERRRRRR!"

Then, to Remilia's utmost horror, her door swings open easily as if it were unlocked this whole time, revealing the frightening girls behind it.

"You're not a monster? But only monsters can see monsters, didn't you know? You're talking with monsters, so you're a monster. And monsters go to hell, hahahahahahhahaaaaaaa!"

They begin to walk slowly towards Remilia with their arms outstretched before them, like zombies. Remilia backs herself against the wall, screaming as loudly as she can, throwing whatever is in reach at the girls approaching her in an effort to keep them back, but they are unfazed.

"One of us, one of us!"

Remilia watches in horror as the girls close the distance to her. Their emaciated and horrific faces are burned into her mind, and she realizes too late that she has been crying profusely, even with her eyes wide open in terror.

"I have to die like this? What is going on, anyway?! This is absurd! What the fuck is this?! Who are they!? Why do they want to kill me? I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

Only one phrase is beating in Remilia's mind as she stops breathing to the shock.

"I'm going to die…!"

Then, Remilia feels her shock and fright and hopelessness morph into rage and anger and fury.

"Why do I have to die like this? What have I done? Why are they trying to kill me? What do they want with me? I haven't done anything wrong! If they want me, they'll have to fucking try! I'll just have to kill them before they kill me! Kill them! Kill them! Kill them all! Give no fucks about them! They're about to kill you! Kill them! Kill them! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Remilia screams again, but this time in rage than in fright. She lunges forward and swipes her hand like a claw at the nearest girl's head, and to her utmost surprise, her fingers leave gash marks two inches deep into the girl's bloodied face and splatter her blood against her closet doors. But perhaps what is more surprising to Remilia is the fact that she is not alarmed by what she has just done.

In fact, she rather expects such a result.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Continuing to shriek in a mix of horror and anger, Remilia plows through the girls that have entered her room, tearing away at everything she sees. Blinded by her madness, Remilia coats her room in blood, including her own as the doll-like girls begin to attack her in return. Finally, after what seems to be a blur of time, Remilia has cleared out her own room, though she can somehow sense that more are outside.

"YOU WANT ME, MOTHERFUCKERS?! COME GET ME! I'M RIGHT HERE! YOU'RE RIGHT - ONLY MONSTERS CAN SEE OTHER MONSTERS! BUT ONLY MONSTERS CAN KILL MONSTERS TOO! COME ON, LET ME SHOW YOU!"

Shrieking madly, Remilia rushes out of her own room into the corridor to face another crowd of the same doll-like girls staring back at her with the same style of creepy faces. As she begins attacking them, however, a very muffled voice cries out to her. It sounds like someone is calling out her name, but Remilia is not sure. She turns to the direction that she hears the call, and Remilia spots a particularly tall girl, as if she is some sort of taller version of all the other girls that she sees.

"HOW ABOUT YOU FIRST, THEN!?"

Remilia dashes towards her enemy faster than is humanly possible, draws back a hand, and prepares to thrust it straight through her opponent's heart. But just as she is about to land her killing blow –

Yuuji yells, "REMILIA!"

The person standing in front of Remilia is not a deformed, creepy, bloodied girl in a large black dress, but her friend, Yuuji Sawatari. But it is too late.

* * *

Just a few minutes earlier...

Yuuji is sleeping on his bed, lying on top of his covers, fully dressed in his daytime patient's gown instead of his nightclothes and pajamas, when a loud series of rappings awakes him.

"Shit…hope it's not too late…"

Grabbing his scalpel that he cleaned during the day, Yuuji opens his door quietly and sneaks out into the corridor again. He spots the shadows banging on Remilia's door right away, but before he can reach them, one of them turns the knob of Remilia's door and opens it, letting themselves in. A terrific scream is emitted from within the room.

"Fuck!"

Dashing for Remilia's room, Yuuji is blocked by a group of shadows that pop up from the ground in front of him.

"Goddamn it, not now!"

Forced to slay them first, Yuuji dispatches of them as quickly as he can, but even more appear as reinforcements. As he tries to kill them all as fast as he can, he hears another dreadful shriek, but this time with anger, not horror.

"What's going on with her?! Fuck, fuck! Get outta my way!"

Desperately trying to reach his friend, Yuuji simply begins to brute-force his way through the sea of shadows, dismembering their limbs one after another to reach Remilia's room before anything happens. Finally, he manages to draw close to her door, but at that moment, Remilia rushes out of her room, shrieking and laughing hysterically.

Remilia's eyes have changed to that of a bat's, her pupils having become slits swimming in black scleras. Her fingernails have grown into horrendously sharp claws that have sprayed blood all over her hands, arms, face, and nightgown. And she has the craziest grin that Yuuji has ever seen. Yuuji yells at her:

"REMILIA! REMILIA, CAN YOU HEAR ME? LISTEN TO ME! REMILIA! REMILIAAAAAAA!"

Remilia turns to him, having heard him. But instead, she crouches down low and pushes off. Before Yuuji can react, she is already in front of him, and her right hand darts forward –

* * *

"YUUJI! YUUJI, WAKE UP! DON'T DIE, PLEASE, OH GOD, OH GOD, DON'T DIE! WAKE UP, YOU FUCKTARD! WAKE UP WHEN I TELL YOU TO WAKE UP!" Remilia is screaming in Yuuji's face, horrified.

Yuuji is shaken back to consciousness, finding the small stature of Remilia kneeling on his own knees, shaking him by his collar. Her right hand is much bloodier than her left, and there are tears streaking down her cheeks, washing away some of the blood specks that have landed on her face.

"Can you, like, stop screaming into my face? I feel like you're going to blow out my ears and kill me that way…" Yuuji groans.

But Remilia digs her forehead into his chest, very clearly extremely relieved that she did not accidentally kill her own friend. Her weeping echoes throughout the corridor as Yuuji looks around for any of the shadows that he had seen. There are none in sight, but Yuuji does hear the frantic tapping of the guard's boots against the corridor floors. Yuuji sighs.

"Oh dear God…wonder how we'll be explaining our way outta this one…"

* * *

Remilia is sitting in front of Dr. Richmond inside his office. She has her knees tucked into her chest, hugging them as her long lavender hair drapes down over the back of her chair. She appears to be in no mood to talk. Dr. Richmond taps his pen on his desk until Maribel enters the room with her clipboard.

"Ah, Maribel, you're here."

Remilia does not bother to look up at her friend as Maribel sits down next to her, flipping over some pages.

"Yuuji's condition has stabilized. He lost a lot of blood, and even though normally the amount of blood lost is not life-threatening, we may not know what will still happen due to his disorder, so the nurses are keeping an eye on his status."

Dr. Richmond nods. "I see, thank you." He turns to Remilia. "Now, Remilia. Will you please explain what happened last night at 12:02AM in as much detail as you can…"

* * *

"I see, I see…" Dr. Richmond mutters. Remilia has kept her story brief and concise. The very thought of what has happened has made her sick to the stomach.

"This is very curious. I took the chance to speak with Yuuji privately about this matter, and from what I can tell, they seem to indeed be able to perceive the same…hallucinations, if that is the apt phrase to use here…"

"Their disorders are genetically similar in terms of missing sequences, Doctor," says Maribel.

"Yes, I'm very aware of that, that's why I am honestly not very surprised that this had happened. But what strikes me as even more intriguing is the fact that Remilia and Yuuji saw two different renditions of the same situation. From what Remilia here described, it seems that she has seen a far more terrible sight than Yuuji did."

"But in the end, they were merely hallucinations, right? The guard reported that he did not find any evidence whatsoever of any of the shadows or the girls that either Yuuji or Remilia described…"

Remilia growls in a sickened and low voice. "I swear to God I saw them…I don't care if you don't believe me…"

"Remilia, we…we understand that you are very…unsettled by the events that have transpired last night. I'm not saying that we, well, that we don't believe you. We're trying our best to work with your story here. And…to say the least, it's bad enough you accidentally hurt him as well…"

The words hang in the air heavily. Remilia's hands grasp her legs more tightly.

Dr. Richmond scratches his head. "Er…perhaps I've made the atmosphere worse, so…let us move on for now. Unfortunately, Remilia, um…I'm afraid that for now, we will have to put you under temporary quarantine as part of protocol here, because you did engage in an act of violence within the clinic. I hope you do not take this the wrong way…"

"Yeah, yeah…I deserve it, right? At least I can't deny it this time…and I don't really care, s'not like I have a reason to leave my room or anything anyway…" Remilia mutters.

"We will also be focusing more on your and Yuuji's cases to see if we can find anything else on your respective diseases. This case has piqued the interest of my colleagues, the team who initially worked on your case, Remilia."

"…how long will my quarantine last?"

"I believe for…a week. I have decided that this incident was a direct result of your disease, and not because of anything of your own conscious volition. That being said, Remilia, I…I am putting a lot of trust in you that you won't do this to other people. Yuuji, fortunately, was very understanding, and he has told me that he doesn't hold you at fault for anything. But please do try not to do this to anyone else. They may not be so…accommodating. And…I'm sure I don't need to be telling you that a second time."

"You got that right, son of a bitch…" Remilia whispers fiercely.

Dr. Richmond simply chuckles awkwardly at Remilia's profanity. "Well, um…this should do it for our little meeting here. Maribel, have you been able to clear Yuuji for…?"

"Yes, I have. Remilia, would you like to visit Yuuji once before you go back? I mean…you will be put quarantine once you get to your room, so…you might as well."

Remilia says nothing at first.

"…I guess…"

* * *

Remilia and Maribel enter the emergency operating room where Yuuji has been kept for the night. He is lying on the operating table, hooked up to the IV bag with clean anti-infection bandages wrapped around his midsection, but a bit of blood has still managed to poke its way out of the tender wound just underneath his heart. Remilia had pierced Yuuji's body just below the heart and buried her four fingers and sharp claw-like fingernails deep enough to puncture the lung slightly. More bandages are wrapped around his head as well, as Remilia had given him a minor concussion upon tackling him with her attack.

"How are you feeling, Yuuji?"

"'sup, I'm fine." Yuuji turns his head rather painfully at them and coughs. "For now."

"Okay. The nurses will be around to check on you every fifteen minutes to make sure you're doing fine."

"Sure."

"Maribel, could you…leave us alone for a sec?"

"…um…sorry, Remilia, but…I'm not supposed to let you do th-"

"It won't take long. It's not like I'll have another chance to talk to this idiot again for a week anyway."

"But-"

Remilia turns sharply to Maribel and growls. "I said, get the fuck out."

Maribel, at first taken back by Remilia's hostility, sees in her eyes that it is not with hostility that Remilia had spoken those words, but muffled desperation.

"…just…don't take too long, okay? I don't want you guys to get in trouble…"

Maribel exits the emergency room, leaving Yuuji and Remilia alone.

Remilia mutters at him. "Why aren't you angry at me?"

"…what?" Yuuji looks at her in confusion.

"Why the fuck aren't you angry at me? I nearly killed you. You should be angry at me, right? So why aren't you?"

He snorts. "What kind of a dumb fucking question is that? What do you mean, 'why aren't I angry at you'?"

"Aren't you the one asking the dumbass question here? I nearly killed you, how many times am I gonna have to say this? Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

He snorts again. "Yeah, sounds legit coming from a girl who kept telling me that our lives were meaningless."

"And you're saying that while on an emergency bed! Are you shitting me right now? At least tell me why in the hell you called out to me and made me attack you!"

"…I dunno. I just felt like that was the right thing to do."

"Are you serious? The right thing to do? Even though you could tell that I was gonna kill anything I saw?"

"Then you tell me how else I was gonna find out a way to get you to calm back down when you were in that state. The only other option I had was to stick a knife in your head, and I sure as hell don't wanna do that."

"And why the fuck not? It's what any other normal person woulda done!"

"Look, Remilia. I'm sure Doc's already told you this, but I'm not angry with you, or at you, or whatever. Just 'cause you nearly ripped out my lung doesn't mean that I should start hating you forever because of it," Yuuji sighs.

"And why not? I'm asking you this over and over, you idiot! Why the hell not?"

"Because you're someone I care about, goddamn it!" Yuuji yells, suddenly raising his voice.

Remilia had opened her mouth to say something else, but Yuuji has effectively silenced her again. Yuuji coughs violently, covering his mouth with his hand that is peppered with small drops of blood, which he wipes off on his clothes without a care.

"Do you seriously have a problem with the fact that I view you less as just another fellow patient and more as a friend? Do you really have a problem with that? Because here I was, thinking that that's what "normal people" would do! Make friends in a foreign and potentially hostile environment where I know no one else like me but you! And as far as I'm concerned, part of being a friend is deciding to do things that might hurt me in order to help you, but if that's what I decide to do, it's what I'm gonna fucking do! Did you really expect me to be _angry_ at you?"

"But it's not my fault for feeling that way, is it?! I was treated like shit for the longest time until I just stopped talking to people altogether! You expect an antisocial hermit like me to know what 'friends' would do? I've forgotten all about that crap! The only thing I know how to do is hurt other people! So it's only natural that I think you'd be mad at me 'cause that's what everyone else's reactions were! Is that so weird to understand?"

"Is that your excuse, then? You use a pathetic excuse like that to feel like a victim? So in other words, you're too accustomed to feeling like a damn victim all the time? Is that why you're always so fucking bitter and so fucking angry at everything all the time? Because you say that you've forgotten how to act 'normal' just so that you have an excuse to be pissed off at everything all the time? Is that what you've been doing all this time, is that what you're telling me right now?!"

Remilia and Yuuji glare at each other with death stares.

She whispers dangerously, "Why're you talking as if I see you as _my _friend? I never told you that you were, so stop acting like you are one. I don't give a shit if you see me as a friend, it doesn't fucking matter to me. So what if I'm purposefully trying to make myself out to be a victim? Nobody fucking cares if I do."

"That's a motherfucking blatant lie if I've ever heard one and you know it. You know why? I bet you don't. First off, if you didn't see me as a friend, why am I still alive? Why didn't you kill me last night, when you had the chance? Why did you stop yourself from hitting my heart, in which case you would've easily been able to drop me for good? Second off, nobody cares if you act a certain way? Bullshit. Do I need to say it again? I care! I care about you! That's why I've gone this far to keep you as my friend, to help you wherever I can! I'm not asking anything out of you other than just to see that I'm here for you if you need me, and last night was one of those times that I felt you needed help!" Yuuji takes a deep breath before continuing. "We don't even know what's going on here, what we're seeing! But it's pretty fucking obvious that whatever we're seeing, we can both see! I saw you slashin' away at those things before you went for me! I thought at first that I was the only one who could see them, but clearly I'm wrong! That's all the more reason for me to help you, since I've been dealing with them for longer!"

"Longer? What do you mean, for longer?"

"You remember the day I convinced you to go work with Maribel on her project? You remember my shoulder? I lied to you; that wasn't a heat pack, that was a bandage patch!"

Remilia remembers her conversation with Maribel about Yuuji.

"The meterstick…the meterstick too? That was you?"

Yuuji nods.

"…y-you mean you've been keeping it a secret from me? Ever since then?"

"I thought that I was the only one who could see them. I didn't expect you to have been able to see them, too. That's why I didn't tell anyone and tried to keep it to myself…"

Yuuji rests the back of his hand over his eyes in exhaustion.

"But it's whatever. I might be guilty of the same thing that I accused you of, Remilia, trying to keep everything to myself, but at least I did so tryin' ta keep someone I called 'friend' safe. And yet even after all this, you come in here just to ask me why I'm not angry at you. Like, I don't wanna be King Bitch right now, but I'd like to point out that I never intended to ask anything from you in doing all this shit. Maybe this is my own damn fault for expecting at least a 'thank you' from you, eh? This is fuckin' ridiculous…"

"But –"

YUUJI

"Spare me the bullshit. If you really don't see me as a friend, which it seems like you don't, then get the fuck out. I feel like we just wasted each other's time bitching at each other like this. I wasn't angry at you by any means, and I still don't. But now, I can't help but feel bad for you."

"…w-what?"

"I said, I feel bad for you. I'd hate to imagine what'd happen someone else tried giving you a helping hand just to find out that you truly give no fucks about what people want to do for you. Honestly, I can't be mad about that. It's not worth being angry at you for any of this. It's just…I just feel really disappointed, is all."

"…are you saying you wanted to have me say "thank you" or whatever to you? Is that what you want?" Remilia sounds almost meek.

"What's with the change of tone all of a sudden? No, I never asked for thanks of any sort. I don't need people to thank me for what I do for them. I just wanted to see the people I help, including you, just be happy, even for a moment. I didn't want to see you so bitter and grumpy all the damn time; if I could make you laugh, or giggle, or whatever, it'd've been nice…but I guess I didn't do a good enough job. But whatever. I get the point, Remilia, you don't want to be helped. Now get the fuck out."

A moment of silence. Then, Yuuji hears a loud sniff, followed by a series of footsteps and a loud slamming of the medical bay's doors.

"…I made someone cry again…"

He sighs tiredly.

"…I'm a terrible person."

* * *

Remilia is staring at the wall, lying on her right side on her bed under the covers. She has been like this ever since the start of her week-long quarantine, and it has already been a day.

"How does it feel, knowing you're a monster like us?"

The same girls, six of them this time, are occupying the room with Remilia. Some are standing, some are sitting, and one is even standing from the ceiling, upside down, like a spider.

"How does it feel now, to have become one of us?"

"It feels exciting, doesn't it?"

"It must've felt good, with his blood running down your hands?"

"Do it again! I'm sure you'd love it! But this time, make sure to kill him too!"

"Monsters aren't supposed to have any friends! You can go around killing anyone you like!"

"Or we'll come and kill you if you don't!"

The dolls cackle madly, sending chills down Remilia's spine.

"Shut up…" Remilia whispers.

"What was that? We couldn't hear, because we don't care! Hahahahaa~" the dolls chant.

"I said, shut up…"

But the dolls keep chanting the same thing over and over. Finally, Remilia bolts upright in her bed and screams at the creepy girls covered in water and blood.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! LEAVE ME ALONE BEFORE I SHRED YOU ALL TO PIECES AGAIN!"

"Oh, scary, scary, you'll be shredding us to pieces! But you couldn't even do that to the boy! How'll you expect yourself to do that to us?"

At this, Remilia swings her legs out of bed, the rage swelling up inside her chest again, just as it did on that night.

"Why're you trying to use words to get me pissed off? Why aren't you just coming at me directly, huh? Wouldn't that be easier?"

"Why, you say? Because it's so much more fun watching you suffer before we kill you, that's why! It's so much more fun!"

Remilia snaps, and she screams madly again as her fingernails sharpen immediately into claws.

* * *

"Er…Remilia? Remilia, are you awake in there? Remilia?"

The security guard, assigned to check on Remilia during her quarantine stage every morning, is knocking on her door. Yesterday she had woken up to his knocking and had responded just fine, but today there is no response. Suspicious, the guard pulls out his keys and unlocks the door to find the girl lying unconscious on the floor with endless amounts of cuts on her arms and legs, some deeper than others. She is barely breathing.

"Oh Christ…not this shit again…"

* * *

Yuuji wakes up from a nap, still confined to his bed. The head doctor had assigned him to stay in the medbay for a week in case of any immediate complications from his wounds. He notices out of the corner of his eye that someone has pulled the curtains to divide his bed off from the one to his left. He glances over, and he sees a length of lavender hair around the curtain.

"…what happened to her?" he thinks to himself. He hisses to Remilia, "Remilia! Yo, why're you here? What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened, my boy, Yuuji…"

The sudden voice of the head doctor surprises Yuuji as the doctor walks towards him. He had been leaning against the side counter, musing over the situation before Yuuji had woken up.

"Do tell."

"Basically, earlier today, the security guard found her unconscious in her room, lying in her own blood with many scratches on her limbs. Somehow, she got herself in a coma, something that I…I'm not sure whether to be amazed or confused about."

"How many scratches?"

"Too many."

Yuuji glances over at Remilia again, though he can only see the top of her head.

"How bad is her coma?"

"We don't expect her to stay like that for very long, but most assuredly she will still be in that state when we move her back to her room. She'll stay here for the night, however."

"You have cameras in all our rooms, don't you? Why didn't the guard see her doing whatever she did when it happened?"

"You misunderstand, Yuuji, my boy. The guard only monitors the security of the clinic. We, the doctors, are in charge of the patients. It…it is certainly a loophole that Remilia's incident last night has created for us, but we have had nothing like this happen before, where a patient has inflicted wounds onto herself to this degree."

The head doctor begins walking to the exit.

"If in the case that she does wake up before we move her back to her room, do take care to keep her company. It…it pains me to see you young 'uns get hurt like this, no matter what the circumstance."

The head doctor leaves.

* * *

A day after Remilia's incident, Dr. Richmond is standing with Maribel in the laboratory. Maribel is going over the results of her tests.

"Both Remilia's and Yuuji's blood contain unknown chemical properties that have produced these results…"

Maribel hands Dr. Richmond two pictures that each depict a test tube filled with blood samples.

"I see…these are infra-red scans of their blood samples. And they aren't being detected…"

"That is why the cameras have not been seeing them at night. They just don't show up, like they're immune to infra-red vision."

"Were you able to isolate or identify the substances responsible for this effect?"

"No. Unfortunately, I don't have the equipment to do that here. I could only take those pictures, but having to go that far is too complicated with what I have to work with here."

"This is very intriguing…blood that is resistant to infra-red vision? Who would have thought that this kind of genetic mutation was possible…I will have my colleagues work on this as soon as they are able…hopefully, sooner than later…"

"Um…Doctor, I have…one more thing to show you…"

"Oh? And that is?"

Maribel opens up a freezer that contains rows of test tubes of chilled blood samples. She picks out two of them, labeled with Remilia's and Yuuji's blood samples and holds them up for the doctor to see.

"I had gathered these samples from them just yesterday. Normally, even if we don't chill them, blood samples still last for some time. But…"

Dr. Richmond can see that the blood samples have already turned a sickish tar-like color. In fact, the blood has basically become icky black gunk inside the test tubes.

"…the blood cells themselves are dying…"

Maribel nods with a very concerned look. "This…I don't know what's causing this. This's happened to all of the blood samples thus far. The cells themselves…are just committing suicide, by the looks of it. They literally do not last the night."

"And you said you have no idea why this is?"

Maribel shakes her head. Then, a nurse hurries into the lab.

"Excuse me, Dr. Richmond, we have a problem with the patient in the medbay," the nurse says.

The head doctor inhales deeply. "Oh, dear me. What is it?"

"His right eye just started hemorrhaging. We cleaned it up, but it's not showing any sign of stopping."

He frowns. "How badly is the eye bleeding? And how is it bleeding?"

"The blood coming out of his eye and dripping down. It is very severe."

"Right, then. Maribel, please leave the final report for today on the counter in the medbay. I will review it later tonight. Oh, and…"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Do not inform Yuuji or Remilia of anything. This is for their safety."

The head doctor quickly walks out with the nurse to check on Yuuji.

* * *

Later that day, Yuuji watches as Maribel makes one last round of inspections of the medical bay. He is no longer hooked up to an IV bag. She paces back and forth, carrying materials in her arms and sorting them out in drawers, and setting out clean medical tools. He overhears her muttering something to herself at the counter.

"Research report goes here…"

After putting a manila file folder on the counter, she turns and approaches Yuuji on his bed, who is sporting a bandage patch over his right eye.

"Everything fine, Yuuji?"

"Yeah. For now."

"Is your, um…your eye alright as well?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

"Okay. Well…I have to go for today. If you need anything, call one of the nurses, since they'll be around for a few more hours."

"Sure thing."

Yuuji watches her exit the medical bay. Then, he carefully gets up, not making a sound, and walks to the counter and picks up the folder, flipping through its contents and perusing them. He spends a good fifteen minutes reading Maribel's notes thoroughly with his good eye.

"Hmm…"

Musing, he closes the folder and returns quickly to his bed.

"I'll wait until Maribel gathers more info on this…"

* * *

Remilia is lying underneath the covers in her bed. She had woken from her minor coma just a few hours ago, a little bit after she was moved back to her own room. Five days of quarantine remain.

"Hey, hey, wanna play like we did the other night?"

Remilia hugs her covers even tighter. The girls have returned, something she dreads even more than before now.

"…just…just…go away…please…please…"

"Go away? What do you mean? Are you an idiot or what? You must be an idiot, idiot! Idiot idiot idiooooot!"

The dolls point and laugh at Remilia, but they do not move otherwise. Remilia coughs violently, and she coughs blood into her hands.

"And now, we get to watch you die! You're dying, can't you see? But we'll be there to kill you in the end! We're watching, we're watching! Hahahahahahahaha~!"

The creepy little girls in wet black dresses continue to surround Remilia around her bed and cackle into her ear. Remilia, shaking in her bed and covering her ears, tries to squeeze her eyes but cannot, trying her best not to listen to the cacophony of strange voices. Tears flow out of her eyes as she lies in her bed, whispering as if she has lost her voice.

"…stop…just stop…please stop…"

* * *

Dr. Richmond is resting outside the clinic, sitting on the bench just beside the front doors. Maribel joins him shortly, closing the doors behind her and carrying a paper with her.

"Oh dear, I forgot that you hadn't left for home yet. You should hurry home, it is getting late now."

"I was going to, Doctor; I just figured I would give you an update report on our project."

"Already? You didn't have to give me one for another two days…" Dr. Richmond is bewildered.

"…I just…feel compelled to work faster, given…given what's been happening to them lately…" Maribel says quietly.

"…I see. May I see it, please?"

"Yes, here you go."

Dr. Richmond takes her paper and reads it carefully. His face turns slightly pale.

"…oh no…both of their conditions are deteriorating…?"

Maribel nods slowly. "…Remilia's body is…being poisoned by her own blood. Her blood is slowly turning into what I had shown you in those test tubes the other day. Her own body is committing suicide, too, and we have no idea what is prompting it."

Maribel lowers her gaze sadly.

"And…to top it off, she…she refuses to leave her bed. She is behaving as if she's traumatized by something…"

The head doctor nods gravely.

"I've never seen her act that way ever since she got over her initial first months here at this clinic. And Yuuji's right eye is slowly losing its vision? What in the world is going on with those two? They were supposed to have at least two years, at the very least, and now they are dying right in front of us…"

Dr. Richmond scratches his graying hair in frustration.

"How I do wish that my colleagues would give this more priority…but unfortunately there is nothing I can do to hasten their own priorities…" The head doctor stands from the bench. "I shall inform what I can of this to Yuuji. But…obviously, since he cares for Remilia, there are some things that I cannot tell him for both of their sakes…"

But Maribel stops him. "…Doctor?"

"Yes, Maribel?"

She pauses. "…Doctor, this…this may sound very, very cruel to the both of them…but…just going off of what we have observed so far…don't you think that…perhaps, perhaps the reason why these things are happening to them…is because they've been together this whole time?"

"Hmm…could you elaborate?" Dr. Richmond asks, confused.

"I…I don't have much to support my notion, but…their blood samples both went bad at the same time, at the same rate. And now, their conditions are worsening simultaneously. They both share the same hallucinations in different variations, and…their disorders themselves are extremely similar in a genetic sense. Could it be because their diseases are reacting to each other?"

Dr. Richmond frowns, crossing his arms in deep thought.

"And now, our current research progress on them will have to be discontinued, because fresh blood samples from them will not have the same quality as they had before…"

"Well…you've acquired almost enough data to complete your project, though. It shouldn't be that big of a loss –"

She interrupts him. "Dr. Richmond, it…that's not what I mean! This isn't just a simple science fair project anymore! It's about my friends, it's about Yuuji and Remilia! Now, I'm doing this more for them and not for a silly science project!"

Dr. Richmond reassesses his words, embarrassed by his misunderstanding. "…oh…er…well, I apologize for my…misunderstanding. But…Maribel, I do want you to know that even though we can all see how much you've done in order to try to save their lives, you must accept that…some things are just outside your power, and that you must let life take its course."

"But they're not dead yet! As long as they're still with us, they…I can keep working to find a cure, or even a treatment! There's still hope –" Maribel raises her voice, but Dr. Richmond interrupts.

"Maribel Hearn, listen to me, young lady."

Maribel stops talking.

"I know that feeling well, the guilt of not being able to save the ones who need saving the most. I've run this clinic as its head doctor for over twenty years – I have treated every single patient that has lived and died in the K.T.B. Ward. There's a reason why I named it like that, because very rarely do any of the patients there leave the clinic without their diseases. If you truly wish to become a doctor someday, you need to realize that sometimes…there just isn't much hope for some people. Even if those people are the ones who need it the most."

Maribel grits her teeth in indignance.

"In addition…I believe you have had prior experience of this in your own past, have you not…?"

She looks up at the doctor. "Prior…experience…? What do you –"

"Surely you remember your late friend Renko Usami. I was the doctor who diagnosed her and treated her in her home during her final year of her life."

Maribel's eyes open wide.

"It…you treated Renko…?"

He chuckles quietly at her revelation. "I suppose I must apologize for not telling you earlier. But yes, it was I. Because I made my visits to her home during the mornings, when you were at school, you never saw me there. It gave me quite the pleasant surprise when you first applied for an internship here, when I realized that the best friend of one of my former patients was to become my assistant."

The doctor's voice grows serious.

"But Maribel…I must give my condolences that you must see more friends of yours pass away much in the way that Renko did. But…as cruel as it is, it is very unlikely that you alone have the power to change their fates. I am not suggesting that you stop your work entirely, and heaven knows if you may actually be able to find a cure. But…all I am trying to say to you is that…you must be prepared for the worst."

Maribel nods slowly. She tries her best to hide the fact that she is crying as the head doctor pats her reassuringly on the head before heading inside to the medical bay.

* * *

"…"

Having spoken with the head Doctor, Yuuji has waited for him to leave for his office. Once the coast is clear, he gets up again from his bed and walks to one of the filing cabinets in the corner of the medical bay, where he had seen Maribel put away a copy of the most recent research notes. He pulls it out and begins reading it.

"…fuck…that's what's been happening to her…?"

Then, he hears the doors open, and turning, he sees Maribel, dressed in her ordinary school clothes, about to leave for home.

"…uh…Y-Yuuji…? What are you –"

She recognizes the piece of paper in his hands as a copy of her research findings and freezes.

"…is…is…that my…?" Maribel gasps in a low voice.

Yuuji puts a finger up to his lips. "Shhh." Yuuji approaches her as Maribel, still shocked, closes the doors behind her quietly.

"Sorry, but I needed to know what's going on with Remilia. I could tell by the way Doc was talking that there's something he wasn't telling me."

Maribel lowers her head. "…I'm…I'm sorry…the Doctor insisted that I keep quiet about…about what was going on with Remilia…I'm sorry…"

"Sorry for what? It seems like you were only following orders. Why would you be sorry for that?"

"…no…well, it…it's partly because of that, but…I just…I'm sorry for…not being able to do anything for you two…"

"Because we remind you of that friend of yours named Renko?"

"W-Wait, h-how do you know that too…?!" Maribel is shocked.

"Doc told me just now. He told me to be as nice as I could towards you, since he said that you're a bit 'shaken', whatever that's supposed to mean."

Maribel lowers her head again.

"I don't understand…I've been trying so hard not to let someone like Renko die like she did…why did things have to turn out like this…? Why are things so unfair for you two? I don't get it…I really don't…"

Maribel begins crying.

"Dr. Richmond…told me that in order to become a doctor, I'd have to deal with situations like this…where I'd have to treat patients knowing that I wouldn't be able to save their lives..."

Yuuji watches her cry. "…just curious, Maribel, why is it that you care so much for us? Both Remilia and I know that we don't have much time left. And even if you did find us a cure, you'd also have to consider that if people like us go back out there to society, what we did before becoming diagnosed will follow us and still haunt us like our own shadows. I'm not trying to question your motives for finding cures for our diseases, but would a cure really solve all our problems?"

She looks up at him. "But at least, at the very least, you'd still be able to live on! Renko wasn't able to do that! At least having your lives is better than being dead, isn't it!? And besides…besides…besides…!"

Maribel breaks down, her crying stopping her from speaking properly as she rubs her eyes.

"Besides…I made friends with you two…and so to see both of you go like this…for a second time…I can't…I can't…I can't…!" she cries, desperately shaking her head.

Yuuji scratches his head, uncomfortable that someone is crying in front of him. Putting the paper down on his bed, he embraces Maribel gently.

"…sorry that it turned out like this. This isn't anyone's fault…so don't cry. Please. We might be dying…but we're not dead yet."

It takes a few moments for Maribel to calm down to point where she can talk again.

"…you okay now, Maribel?"

Maribel nods, wiping the last stray tear from her eyes.

"Good. Now listen to me carefully, okay?"

"…w-why…? What are you going to do…?"

"I'm going to save Remilia, but I need your help, so listen, 'k?"

Maribel stares at Yuuji in disbelief.

* * *

It is the last night of Remilia's quarantine week. Remilia has stayed in her room, despite her rapidly deteriorating condition due to the strict enforcement of her quarantine. She continues to lie in her bed. Her eyes have faded, having lost their color. She looks as though she has become a mere corpse. The girls that have haunted every night for the past week surround her, watching her.

"You're almost there, aren't you? Aren't you glad that you're about to go to the other side? Don't you wonder what's over there? C'mon, let us show you! Let us! Oh wait, we won't, because we'd rather see you suffer! Hahahahahaha~!"

The creepy doll-like girls cackle madly again, too many times for Remilia to count. She is too mentally and physically exhausted to even respond to the presence of these intruders anymore, having dealt with them for an entire week. She is a complete wreck.

"Hey, hey, shouldn't we just kill her? It's boring watching her just lie there like that like a potato."

"I suppose. That's what we all wanna do eventually, right?"

"Awwww, but I wanna see her despair go all the way…"

"Nahhh, off with her head, off with her head!"

"Yeah! She's already one of us now, so we can make her into a doll too!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Yay!"

"So do we all wanna just end her, then?"

"Yeah! It's boring watching her now! Let's rip out her skull, then her spine, then her elbows, then her knees! One by one, so she feels all of it!"

They cackle madly again. Remilia can hear them walking towards her. She mumbles to herself...

"…finally…"

Remilia closes her eyes, knowing that her suffering will finally come to an end.

"So this's what you've been seeing all this time."

The doll-girls turn around to see who has spoken, and for a moment, they see the front door to Remilia's room open. Then, one of the girls is flung against the wall and topples onto the ground with a small hole that runs from her forehead all the way through to the back of her head. Yuuji already digs his medical scalpel into the eye of another one of the girls by the time they realize what is happening.

"What the –"

Yuuji mercilessly murders all of them. His scalpel passes easily through their heads without a second thought, with about the same ease as a claymore splitting a human head in half. After the deed is done, he glances around, slightly baffled.

"…why are there only six of them today?"

Shrugging and wiping the blood off his face, he reaches for Remilia's shoulder and turns her over.

"Hey, Remilia. Remilia. Wake up."

But it is no use. Remilia is still breathing, but her mind is elsewhere. She does not respond.

"…this is just a gamble, but…" He whispers, wiping the scalpel as best he can on his shirt. He takes a deep breath before he pokes the sharp tip of his tool into the center of his left palm. The blood drips out down his pinky finger, and he opens Remilia's mouth and lets his blood drip onto her tongue. As soon as Yuuji's blood touches the tip of Remilia's tongue, her empty eyes snap back to focus, and she blinks, confused by the strange but extremely sweet and delicious taste in her mouth.

"…huh? Wha…? What's going…"

She sees Yuuji standing over, giving a sigh of relief that such an unlikely way to get her to wake up actually worked. She also spots the bodies of the girls that have been haunting her for the past week scattered about in her room, all dead from cut wounds.

"Yuuji…"

Without saying another word, she throws herself into his arms.

"What the – hey, careful, you're in no condition to move like that…"

But he is silenced by the sound of Remilia's quiet sobbing.

"…you…y-you fucking idiot…where were you…where the hell were you…"

"…Remilia?"

"…this is all your fault…you made me like this…all your fault…all yours…"

"It's okay, Remilia. They won't bother you anymore."

"Shut the fuck up, you liar…! They'll come back…! They always do…! Do you know…do you know how much I went through in here…? I was dying here, dying…! Why do you come _now_, of all times, just before they killed me? Why? Why now? Don't be a fucking hero…if you call yourself my friend…you should've come…sooner…way sooner…"

Yuuji hugs Remilia tightly for a few minutes to get her to calm down enough to the point where he can talk to her.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"…I don't know, you ass. I should be dead by now." She looks up at him. "…wait, what's up with your right eye…?"

Yuuji's right eye, even though it is pitch-dark inside her room save for some of the light from the lobby that somehow manages to find its way into the room, is glowing sickening magenta.

"I'll explain later. For now, shut up and listen, this is urgent."

"What is? And how the hell did you even get in here? I get out of quarantine tomorrow…"

Yuuji pulls out a set of keys for Remilia to see, one of which she recognizes as a spare key to her room door.

"Hey, that's…how did you –"

"Got it from Maribel, now shut up 'n listen. We both don't have much more time left. I sneaked the reports that Maribel made on your progress for the past week, and I'm convinced that we're both dying way faster than we should be."

"…what are you talking about…?"

"The reports said that you've been coughing up blood and shit. That not true?"

Remilia says nothing at first. Then, it all hits her. The memories of what she did for the past six days comes back to her all at once, and she shudders uncontrollably for a second.

"Oh God…oh God…why…h-how'd I even _forget_ about all that…why do I _just_ recall everything…"

"Look, Remilia. Maribel found out that our blood samples have been going bad a lot more quickly than they should be for being just simple samples. But I noticed that the blood samples she had were all kept together. She had our blood samples right next to each other where she kept them, and then they went bad almost overnight."

"…wait, so…so what's that supposed to mean…?"

"This is just my guess, but…I think we're making each other die. We're killing each other, just by being near each other."

Remilia is still very confused. "…wait…wait, what the fuck? What – that's bullshit! Just because we're near each other? Like, physically?"

"There's nothing else that can explain why Maribel's blood samples were all going bad so quickly. Before, she could keep the samples just fine. Now, though…"

Remilia starts raising her voice. "So…so we can't even be togeth-"

Yuuji puts his hand over Remilia's mouth. "Shut up, the guard might hear," he hisses.

Remilia pushes his hand off, hissing back, "I get it, damn it. But I still think you're full of shit. What do you mean, we're dy-"

As if on cue, Remilia lurches forward, coughing violently into her hands. Yuuji helps her sit up as Remilia feels blood dripping down her wrists.

"Point proven. The same's going for me as well. My right eye…I suddenly started losing sight in it about a few days ago, and now it's to the point where everything is too blurry to see. At this rate, not even glasses will help. I don't know about my other eye, but I won't be surprised if I start going blind in that eye, too. On top of which, I feel fucking terrible…like I'm about to break a bone at any time or something…"

Remilia wipes her mouth, her coughing having reminded her just exactly how much pain her body is in. She looks at Yuuji's mysterious eye again.

"…what…what're we gonna do, then…? It's not like this's news or anything, we already knew we were gonna die sooner or later…and you need to explain everything that's happened, since I was holed up in here for a goddamn week…"

"Explaining'll come later. First, let me ask you this, 'k?"

"…uh…ask me what, exactly?" Remilia is starting to get annoyed.

"Do you want to die with me?"

Remilia stares at him blankly.

"…huh?"

"It sounds stupid, but do you want to die with me?"

Slowly, Remilia understands the meaning of his request. She lowers her head, muttering,

"…it's a lot better than dying alone, that's for sure…"

"But I'm asking you if you want to die now, as opposed to later. Like you said, it doesn't really matter, but…"

But Remilia stays silent. They both remain silent until Remilia speaks up again.

"…nah. I think I've had enough of this shithole. Just asking, but this's gonna be our only chance, isn't it…?"

"Of dying the way we want to? Oh, hell yeah. You think they'd let us just off ourselves? As much as some of 'em would want us to…"

She chuckles darkly. "Nah, you've got a point. But what the hell're we supposed to do? Do you even have a plan? Where're we even gonna go?"

"…I talked to Maribel about this. She told me that there's a beach about a four hours' drive from here –"

Remilia suddenly grabs Yuuji's collar.

"You fucking asshat, _you told Maribel that we're gonna go commit suicide?!"_

"…she's bound to find out one way or another, assuming we do properly kill ourselves, heh. It's better to have told her my intentions before we left."

"…that's not what I meant, bastard…I at least wanted to say goodbye to her before I die…and thank her for what she tried to do for us…you were the one who told me to be grateful for people like her, weren't you…?" she says quietly.

"…yes, I did tell you that. I'm glad you learned. Thanks, Remilia."

Yuuji pats Remilia's head, who says nothing.

"For now, though, we need to get the hell out. Get your normal clothes out, I'll tell you what we'll do, and I'll go grab my own clothes…"

* * *

Yuuji and Remilia, now both in their streetclothes, press themselves against the wall. Yuuji peeks out into the lobby, where the security booth is, and sees the guard inside, reading a book and listening to his iPod.

"Looks like we won't be getting past him anytime soon unless we do something about him," Yuuji mutters.

"…be careful. I won't hesitate to jump in if anything happens."

"…yeah…though I'd prefer that you don't, seeing how much it hurts for you to even walk…"

Remilia grinds her teeth. "…I can't deny that, but…it's not like either of us have much time."

Yuuji takes a deep breath, wipes his brow, and walks out into the lobby. The guard, noticing movement out of the corner of his eye, looks up to see Yuuji walking towards him slowly.

"Hey, you! What're you doin'? Get back in your room! This ain't hours you kin jus' run around at!" the guard barks at Yuuji as he puts down his book and takes out his earbuds to walk outside the booth and approach Yuuji.

"Ya deaf, son? Da hell're ya doin' right now? I said, get back to your -"

As soon as the guard is close enough, Yuuji suddenly lunges forward, grabbing the guard's hair and yanking it downwards towards his rising knee and breaking his nose in one fluid motion. The guard goes down yelling in pain and grabbing his bleeding nose as Yuuji yanks the baton on the guard's utility belt to beat him unconscious. But the guard, realizing what Yuuji is trying to do, rolls over, grabs the baton and tears it away from his opponent easily.

"Kid…yer makin' a real bad mistake tryin'na fuck with me…"

"Yeah, that's a real downer, ain't it?"

The guard charges at him, baton raised to subdue him. Yuuji sidesteps easily, turns, and drives his left elbow into the guard's left side. He then smashes the back of his head into the guard's face when he doubles over from the elbow hit, reaches up to grab the guard's right arm, and pulls down, throwing the guard onto his back again onto the lobby floor.

The guard coughs. "K-Koff…ya sonuva…!"

The guard swings at Yuuji's legs recklessly, connecting with his right shin. The blow knocks Yuuji off-balance as he, too, hits the ground. The guard hastily gets back up, and Yuuji rolls away to get back up.

"Dunno where you learned ta fight, kid. But I can tell, you've been doin' this fer some time, haven'tcha? That why ya came here? 'Cause yer too dumb ta take care 'a yerself after gettin' hit in the head so many times?"

Yuuji narrows his eyes. "That'd actually be preferable for me, if that were the case. But fuck you nonetheless."

It is Yuuji's turn to charge at his opponent, who lurches forward to meet him. Yuuji catches the baton that comes crashing down on him, but the guard quickly follows up with a left hook that in turn catches Yuuji in the side, causing him to let go of the baton. Yuuji ducks under the baton swing, but the guard kicks him hard in the chin, and Yuuji lands hard on his back.

"Well, well, now that's done, let's getcha back so I dun hafta deal with yer bitch-ass for tonight…"

The guard stands over Yuuji and raises his baton.

"GET THE FUCK OFF HIM!"

Remilia screams and dashes out so quickly that the guard barely has time to see her rush out from the darkness of the corridor. She clenches her fist as her fingernails sharpen into claws and drive her fist into the guard's right side, above his hip.

"O-Oof!" The guard wheezes, Remilia's attack coming out of nowhere.

Yuuji, from the ground, catches a brief glimpse of Remilia's bat-like eyes and black scleras before she grabs his right arm that holds the baton, roars, and throws the guard entirely off his feet across the lobby against the wall next to the corridor from whence she came. She stoops to pick up the baton and walks quickly over to him before he has a chance to get back to his feet.

Yuuji calls out, "Make sure you don't kill him, 'k?"

But Remilia ignores him and beats the guard over and over with his own baton. He resists at first, but Remilia lands a single solid blow on his head and swings it as hard as she can at his left arm, breaking it with a sickeningly dull crack. Throwing it aside, she kneels down, grabs hold of the guard's head, and repeatedly smashes it against the wall until he is finally rendered unconscious. Yuuji gets up and walks over to her, searching the guard for the keys to the security booth.

"…here they are. You okay, Remilia?"

She breathes heavily. "…that's…what I should be asking you, isn't…it?"

Suddenly, Remilia coughs violently again as blood drips down her hands a second time.

"…but I'm not any better…I feel like shit…"

"Yeah, but we don't have much time. Look."

Yuuji points to the security camera overlooking the lobby. It is flashing a silent red.

"I've been in enough crimes to know that when cameras do that, it's set off a silent alarm. We don't have long 'til the police get here to investigate." He hands Remilia the set of keys that Maribel gave him. "Take these to the storage rooms and grab all the medication left in there. Maribel said that there aren't much, and that she'd put as many as she could find in the back into the lockers that usually have them in there. Can you do that?"

"…yeah, of course I can fucking do that." Remilia wipes her mouth, yanking the keys out of his hand.

"I'll be looting out the security booth for anything useful."

"But we need a car, right? How're we gonna get one?"

Yuuji points at the guard.

"…right."

Remilia hurries off to the back of the clinic, while Yuuji takes the guard's keys and enters the security booth, looking for anything useful. He grabs the guard's backpack sitting in the corner and starts throwing in whatever he finds that he thinks might be useful – pencils, sheets of paper, a clipboard, a bag of Cheez-Its, and other miscellaneous items. He also notices a security safe underneath the table.

"…I can pick that…"

Deciding to take the risk, Yuuji takes a paper clip from the table and straightens it out.

"…I need another…"

Kneeling down, he picks up the hairpin that Maribel had dropped some time ago.

"…this'll work, I guess…"

After a minute or so, Yuuji opens the lock and opens the safe. Inside, he finds a small but sturdy-looking case. He withdraws it, puts it on the table, and unlatches it. What he finds inside pleasantly surprises him.

"…oohh shit…"

A Glock 17 handgun, with its parts in their own separate compartments, sits neatly in the case, its shiny new metal staring back up at him. Four magazines of bullets sit in a separate compartment next to the gun, three of which contain rubber rounds, and one of which contains live rounds. To top it off, a small Surefire tactical flashlight and a sound suppressor hang from the case lid. Yuuji assembles the pistol, inserts a magazine of rubber rounds into the grip, and pulls back the slide, making sure the bullet is properly chambered. He twists on the sound suppressor, admiring it.

"…sweet, I guess."

Stowing the other magazines into his jeans pockets, Yuuji makes sure the safety is on before sticking the gun into his back pocket. He hears Remilia hurrying back and sees her round the corner, carrying a bag of fruits and only one syringe.

"Hey, I'm good to go. Let's get the hell out."

"You find anything?"

"Only one medication left. They had a note there saying that a shipment with more of my medication was coming tomorrow. Talk 'bout bad luck..." Remilia shakes her head disgustedly.

"Sucks for you. I found a gun."

She rolls her eyes sarcastically. "Whoo, yeah, a gun…what's that gonna do…"

"A whole lot more than you'd think…" He notices the bag of fruits that Remilia is holding. "Why're you carrying that?"

"So I can eat them along the way, why?"

"Oh…'k then…"

Inside the bag of fruits sits the red apple that has been sitting on her windowsill for the past two years.

"Search the guard for his car keys. I'll lockpick the doors."

"Just shoot it, dude. You got a gun, right?"

"Yeah…no, ain't doin' that. I'm not gonna wreck this place, that's not what we're here to do."

"…hey, I'd like to."

Yuuji works on the doors. "But I've got the gun, not you, now get those keys. He's gotta have 'em somewhere."

Remilia searches the guard.

"Got the doors. You find 'em yet?"

"Geez, gimme some ti – oh, found 'em."

Remilia raises a single key.

"A Honda? I see one out there, looks like that's it."

"It's the _only_ car out there…"

Remilia and Yuuji hurry to the car, unlocking it and piling in.

"…uh, so…where're we going, again?"

"To a place where no one'll find our bodies. I don't wanna have to bother people even when I'm dead when people find us and wonder what the hell happened to us. I'd prefer to save people the trouble."

"Tch…I'd rather scare the shit outta people…but whatever…"

Yuuji manages the in-car GPS, calculating a route. But as he starts the car, they start to hear police sirens wailing, rushing to the clinic.

"Hope you're ready for this, Remilia. Lemme show ya what a car chase feels like."

"Uh, it'd be nice if you at least _start driving, motherfucker!"_

"Yeesh, stop yellin' at me, girl."

The Honda Accord 7 pulls out of the parking lot and roars away from the clinic, but the police cars spot their vehicle and immediately give chase.

"DRIVER IN THE HONDA ACCORD, PLEASE PULL OVER! THIS IS THE POLICE! PULL YOUR VEHICLE OVER NOW!" the police siren screams.

The entourage of vehicles roars down the streets of the town as Yuuji drives for the highways.

"Hey, hey, you're gonna do something to get 'em off our asses, right?"

"I'm working on that, but we need to get outta town first!"

The cars weave in and out of the empty night streets until they reach the equally empty highway.

"PULL OVER THE VEHICLE NOW! WE WILL NOT HESITATE TO USE FORCE! WE WILL NOT REPEAT THIS AGAIN!"

"Whoa, dudes, you're getting' all hot 'n bothered…"

Yuuji rolls down his window and takes the gun that is sitting on the ashtray, flicking the safety off.

"…uh…Yuuji, what're you –"

"You know what I'm about to do."

Leaning out of the window, Yuuji takes aim at the nearest police car's front right tire and fires. The bullet hits home, popping the tire. Yuuji quickly snaps his aim at the other front tire, and that, too, bursts as the rubber bullet penetrates the heated rubber. The police cars, whose drivers realize that their suspect is clearly armed and trying to shoot out their tires, begin swerving their cars to avoid getting hit.

"YOU ASKED FOR IT! WE WILL BEGIN TO OPEN FIRE ON YOU!"

"What the hell was that for?! You just fuckin' pissed 'em off even more!"

"Yeah, I realized. I had planned on the tires blowing out entirely and causing a pile-up, but guess that didn't work out."

Remilia slaps her palm onto her face. "…you're such a fucking idiot…"

Yuuji swerves the car erratically, pulling the car over onto the wrong side of the highway through a construction zone that has temporarily torn down the middle divider wall, causing Remilia to shriek out in fright.

"H-Hey, what the fuck! What're you doing?!"

"Why're you so agitated? There's only two ways that this can end, and in both of them, we die."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT HERE!"

Yuuji keeps on eye on the three police cars in his rearview mirror as he roars down the highway.

"WE GAVE YOU A CHANCE! OPEN FIRE, OPEN FIRE!"

"Trigger happy bastards, aren't they…? Remilia, wheel!"

Swiftly, Yuuji leans out of his window, snaps his pistol at the same car again, and fires three shots in quick succession before the policemen can return fire. The bullets clang against the same popped tires that have slowly been deflating, but one of the bullets strikes the metal rims, bending it as the rim rolls over it on the highway asphalt and causing the car to skid out of control. The police car directly behind it crashes straight into the skidding police car, and as the driver of the third police car looks over to his compatriots to see what is going on, Yuuji takes aim again and unloads the rest of his magazine into the tires. The police car, too, swerves uncontrollably, its front left tire dented too much to drive properly, and it screeches against the side highway dividers with a cacophonous scraping of metal against metal before it suddenly turns again and smacks straight into the highway divider.

"…well, talk about a Hollywood car chase," Yuuji whistles as he ducks back into the Honda, his thumb rubbing against the magazine release and dropping the spent magazine onto the rocky asphalt of the highway behind them.

"You would've blown up those cars, then."

"Nah, car explosions are too cliché."

They drive off into the highway before the police cars that Yuuji has just shot out of the road can call for backup.

* * *

Remilia walks out of the women's restroom, wiping her hands on her dress. Yuuji is standing near a sign, reading the local map that is posted on it. He is eating an apple that Remilia had given him from her bag of fruits.

"You're not tired or anything?"

He sighs. "Well…I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't, and I don't like lying. But I'll be fine."

"Don't drive if you're sleepy, you know. It's fine if we pull over and just take a nap somewhere…" Remilia sounds concerned.

"Why does it matter, heh heh. I mean, aren't we driving off somewhere to die?" Yuuji smirks.

"We'll worry about that when we get there."

"And besides, if we slow down, we still have a chance that the police'll find out where we are, and they'll throw us back into that clinic again, and we'll end up dying there."

Yuuji throws his thin apple core into a nearby trashcan.

"That reminds me, shouldn't you take your medication?"

"…we only have one of it, though…"

He sighs. "Unfortunately, we do. So I guess it's up to you when you wanna take it. How long can you last without it?"

"I don't like, _need_ it to stay alive. It only suppresses the urges I get to drink human blood…"

Remilia looks strangely at Yuuji.

"…by the way…earlier tonight, when you came into my room to wake me up…I meant to ask you why there was blood on my lips. All I remember was tasting something really, really sweet…"

"Oh, right, I didn't tell you. That was my blood."

Remilia looks at him blankly. "…eh?"

Yuuji beckons to Remilia.

"C'mon, let's get back in the car. I'll tell you while driving."

They pile into their stolen Honda and drive away from the rest stop back onto the highway.

"So here's what happened. I hurried to your room at around midnight, because Maribel told me that that's when the guard can't call anyone from the clinic, since everyone's basically asleep by then."

Remilia eyes him suspiciously. "…And…how does she know this…?"

"Unlike us, she's actually a sociable person and is good friends with everyone who works there."

"Yeah, I wonder why you mentioned _that_…" Remilia rolls her eyes again.

"So when I headed out, I got the scalpel that I hid inside one of the drawers in the emergency room and headed to your room. I opened your door, and I saw those girls."

"…and you killed them, didn't you…?"

"My question is, why were there only six of them?"

"I dunno…but…Maribel told me that you…you were having hallucinations. Does that mean…I'm hallucinating too?"

"…I suppose. No one else's seen what But it's pretty fucking obvious that we're both having the same hallucinations, however that's supposed to work."

"I mean, Maribel did say that our disorders are similar at a genetic level…"

"Did she, now. How surprising…" Yuuji mutters sarcastically.

"And then?"

"And then I woke you up since you were knocked out to all hell. You looked like you were in a fuckin' daze, like your soul was drained straight outta you or something."

"So how did you manage to wake me up?"

He smirks again. "What if I told you that I did it the Prince Charming way?"

"…huh? What?"

Yuuji reaches over to Remilia's lips with his right index finger.

"As in, gave you a little smooch right on the kisser –"

"Fucking die already, bastard! Like you actually did that!" Remilia yelps, blushing furiously.

"Yeah, I didn't actually do that. But I did give you some of my blood, though," Yuuji chuckles amusedly.

Remilia coughs, rolling down the window to spit out the blood in her mouth.

"Your blood? But why'd you think that'd work?" she asks, rolling the window back up.

"Because if you think about it, our diseases are insanely related for what they are. Your disorder makes your blood carry too little sugar, and my blood makes too much. And because you'd drink human blood if you couldn't help it, I thought that maybe I could get you to wake up again by feeding you my blood. So there you go."

Yuuji glances over to her, smirking even more.

"So? How'd it taste?"

"…stop looking at me like that, and I'll tell you."

"Fine, fine…"

"…it…it did taste sweet. Even though I've only tasted human blood a few times before, when I went on my rampages or whatever, your blood…was the best…"

Remilia groans, pulling on her own long lavender hair.

"Arrghhhhh…why'd you have to make me say that…"

"It did, huh…" He smiles. "…somehow, that's nice to know."

She glares at him. "…why? Get those weird thoughts outta your worthless brain, asswipe."

"I dunno."

"…but…but what I don't get is why, when I woke up, I remember feeling…almost as if I were like, light-headed or something. My body didn't hurt at all for a little bit until you mentioned that we didn't have much time or whatever…" Remilia mumbles.

They drive in silence for a little bit.

"…this might sound crazy, but…you think my blood actually helps your body somehow…?"

"…that's what I was thinking too…"

To Remilia's surprise, Yuuji extends his right arm over to her.

"Bite."

"…w-what…? What're you asking me?"

"You said your body didn't hurt when I fed you my blood the first time, right? You're coughing blood now. Drink some. I wanna see if it helps."

She hesitates. "…I don't wanna do anything that'll hurt you…"

"I stabbed myself to give you my blood; I doubt you biting me is gonna make a whole lot of difference. Besides, just when I mentioned my blood, aren't your canines getting a lot bigger there?"

Surprised, Remilia pokes her canine teeth. Sure enough, they have grown even sharper than before, like a vampire.

"…why…I haven't…"

"It's obvious, isn't it? Your body is remembering the taste of my blood. You're thinking about how sweet it was. Your body wants it."

Remilia looks very uncomfortable at this.

"…fine…don't blame me if I drink too much…"

"…yeah, I'm still driving here, so I'd like it if you didn't do that…"

Remilia lifts Yuuji's arm up to her mouth and hesitantly sinks her teeth just below the wrist. Her sharp canines pierce the skin easily, almost too easily. The blood from the punctures begin dripping down onto her dress.

"…rgh…"

She nervously licks the blood that drips from his arm, as if afraid of it, and swallows. Yuuji withdraws his arm.

"…how is it? You feel anything?"

Remilia smacks her lips, savoring the heavenly sweet taste.

"…all I know is that…this is the best thing I've ever tasted…"

"…huh. Really. Like how so?"

She closes her eyes. "…you have no idea…"

"That much, huh?"

"…yeah…but…I feel…I feel my coughing going away…I don't feel sluggishly tired as I have been."

"That's good, then. But…I'm thinking that feeling won't last forever…"

"…yeah. I'm getting a feeling that it's more of a temporary placebo or something. But…" She wipes her mouth, lowering her voice. "…thanks anyway. It helped…at least for a little bit."

Yuuji puts his hand on Remilia's head again.

"You're very welcome."

Remilia is tempted to hiss at him and throw his arm off her head, but she does not.

"…hey, I thought you'd throw my arm off or something."

"…and so what if I want you to keep it there…?"

"Well, no, it's just…you normally don't like me doing this, don't you…?"

"…when I know that…this might be the last time you do that…? If I acted like my usual bitchy self, I'd just end up making myself feel like a real douchebag, won't I…?"

"I guess so."

"…hey, and…how long you think it'll take…?"

"To get there?"

Remilia nods.

"…it'll take a bit. We're pretty far inland. We'll have to stop at a gas station or something and pick up some food or something along the way…and seeing you only have one dose of medication, we can't stop for long…"

Remilia nods again.

"…hey, can you…can you keep your hand like that…until I fall asleep…?"

"…sure, I don't have a problem."

"…thanks…"

They drive off into the night.

* * *

"Um, Doctor…? What's going on here…?"

The lobby of the clinic appears to be very hectic. Police officers, nurses, the security guard, whose nose is bandaged, and Dr. Richmond are assembled in the lobby, talking amongst themselves.

"Ah, Maribel, glad to see you're still early on the weekends. As you can see…we…are having a bit of a problem here."

She feigns ignorance. "…what kind of problem?"

"…well, Maribel…I'm…I'm very sorry to say this, but…your friends…Remilia and Yuuji, they…appear to have escaped."

"Maribel nods."

"…I see. That's…tragic, isn't it…"

Dr. Richmond puts a hand on her shoulder.

"…Maribel, could you step outside with me, please?"

The head doctor leads his assistant outside.

"…Maribel, please be honest with me now. The only way for Yuuji to have helped Remilia escape was to have gained access to a spare key to her room; her quarantine period wasn't over just yet, it was supposed to end today. Did you help them escape? I won't get angry at you if you say yes."

"…"

Maribel does not answer him right way.

"…Maribel. Did you, or did you not?"

"…what if I said yes? What will you do?"

"…well…obviously I will attempt to have them come back. I don't know what they're doing, but –"

"They're going to commit suicide, Dr. Richmond," she says quietly so that only the doctor can hear.

The doctor is deeply shocked. "…what?"

"…please don't get in their way, Dr. Richmond. I'm begging you…they only want to make one last decision in their lives. Please…at least let them die the way they want."

Dr. Richmond, visibly shaken, exhales deeply, not knowing what to say.

"…then…I suppose…I suppose you don't know where they might be headed at this moment in time…?"

"…I do know, Doctor. But…I won't tell you."

"…then how soon can you tell me?"

"…I don't know. Maybe in another few hours. But right now, it's too early. As their friend, I…I at least want to let them be happy at least when they do die. That's why I cannot tell you much, Doctor. I'm sorry."

He chuckles slowly. "It's going to be rough with the policemen in there, but…I understand, Maribel. I suppose for now, we can only bid those two a peaceful farewell…but say, you don't know how they suppose to…well… 'kick the bucket', so to speak, do you, Maribel…?"

Maribel says nothing.

* * *

After nearly nine hours of driving, Yuuji pulls the Honda out onto a lonely beach that a stray road leads directly to. The tires roll gently out onto the sand, and Yuuji parks it not too far from the shore. It is just about half past ten.

"We're here, Remilia."

She coughs violently. "…yeah…how's your…eye?"

Yuuji rubs his eyes. Even his left eye is beginning to turn into the same sickening magenta hue as his right.

"…I'm just wondering how I'm still even able to see anything…"

Yuuji gets out of the car and stumbles to the shotgun seat, helping Remilia out. Her body has deteriorated to the point where she cannot walk because it is too painful for her to do so.

"…ow…ow, ow…let's…let's just sit down here…"

Yuuji helps Remilia sit down as she requests, sitting down with her. They lean against the side of the car and sit like this for a long time without speaking to each other, staring out to the sea and letting the sun in the sky warm their dying bodies. Remilia coughs and hacks, for at this point not even Yuuji's blood will help her coughing subside. Yuuji puts an arm around her right shoulder and pulls her close by him, and Remilia lets him do as he wishes, closing her eyes tiredly. They stay like this for some time as well.

"…hey…Yuuji…" Remilia breaks the silence.

"Yeah?"

"…just wondering, but...do you…believe in God…or whatever?"

"…growing up, my family was Presbyterian, but…I wasn't as devout as the rest of my family was. But…if I meet Him, I'm gonna beat the shit outta him."

She smiles. "…and so what if…this'll sound crazy, but…what if that God was me? Would you beat me up? For everything I've…caused you?"

"I'm pretty sure God wouldn't be sitting next to me in my time of death and telling me whether or not I believe in Him. Or, in this case, it'd be Her…but no. I wouldn't."

Remilia smiles weakly.

"…hey, Yuuji, can…can you bring out my…my bag and the…and the backpack…? There's something I wanna…I wanna do…"

Yuuji opens the shotgun seat behind him and fumbles around in it, pulling out the backpack and the now nearly-empty bag of fruit. Only the same red apple remains. He hands them to Remilia.

"What do you plan on doing?"

Remilia takes out the clipboard and the paper and sticks a sheet of it in the clip. She also withdraws the empty syringe that once held her very last dose of medication. Pushing down on the phinger all the way, she inserts the tip into her wrist and pulls the phinger up halfway, filling the syringe halfway with her blood.

"Give me your arm, Yuuji."

She takes his arm and repeats the process, filling the rest of the syringe with his blood. Yuuji watches her as she then traces a heart on the paper in the clipboard, writing both their names in it.

Yuuji cannot help but break a smile. "…you went through all that just to do that? You could've just used a pen, you know."

"…this…means a lot more…since for the both of us…our own blood is what…kept us alive, and is what…ended our lives."

She puts the apple from the bag on the clipboard as she sets it down on the sand in front of her and embraces Yuuji one final time. She kisses him on the lips as she does so.

"…hey…I don't mind that I met you, Yuuji, even if…even if somehow we caused…each other to die. I don't mind…at all…at all…" Remilia is crying silently.

Yuuji hugs her one last time, too.

"Yeah, I don't either…"

Remilia hugs Yuuji as hard as she can, with her strength slowly failing her.

"…at least this is better than any other death I'd have…thanks for everything…"

Finally, Remilia struggles to get to her feet, grunting with the pain. Yuuji helps her up, and they begin walking towards the shore.

"…hey, Remilia."

"Yeah…?"

"…doesn't this kinda remind you of a wedding?"

Remilia smirks. "Then this must be one fucked up wedding."

They laugh, as if that were the most hilarious joke they'd ever heard in their lives. They reach the shore, where the sand is wet with the water of the sea.

"…hold on…I've always wanted to do this…you should do it, too."

Remilia takes off her shoes and socks, and Yuuji follows suit.

"…well…it was nice knowing you too, Remilia."

"…what're you talking about…? I'm not going anywhere…" she frowns.

"I guess not…but thanks for everything on my end, too."

Remilia smiles, and they start walking into the water. Remilia grabs Yuuji close to her.

"…I'm scared of what the ocean looks like underneath…so you better…keep me close to you, okay…?"

"Yeah, got it, got it."

Yuuji puts his lips over Remilia's just before their heads sink underneath the surface of the ocean, and just like that, the beach is empty.

* * *

Two hours later, a police car pulls up to the beach where the stolen Honda sits. Maribel Hearn, Dr. Richmond, the security guard, and the policeman find the remains of Yuuji's and Remilia's final resting place: a clipboard with a paper inscribed with a heart and their names in their combined blood, the syringe still nearly full with their blood, the car keys to the Honda, and the red apple, still sitting on the clipboard, staring out to the ocean and the shoes sitting on the shore, soaking up the sun.

* * *

**Fuyu no hana ga saita**

** hashiri yuku kisetsu no naka**

**Sorashita me no hashi o**

** itai kaze ga naderu dake**

**Futari de mitsumeta**

**sono iro wa kawaranu aka**

**Tsukamasete oite te o hanashita**

**Kowareta kakera mitsumete**

**ugokenai mama**

**ima koboreochite…**

**Yume no kakera atsumete**

**ugokenai mama**

**ima koboreochite kieta**

**Haru no hana ga saita**

**musekaeru kisetsu no naka**

**Sorashita me no hashi o**

**nurui kaze ga naderu dake**

**Futrai de mitsuketa**

**sono basho wa kie yuku ao**

**Tsukamasete oite te o hanashita**

**Kudaketa kakera idaite**

**hanasenai mama**

**ima koboreochite…**

**Toki no kakera atsumete**

**dakishimeta mama**

**ima koboreochite kieta**

**Kowareta kakera mitsumete**

**ugokenai mama**

**ima koboreochite…**

**Yume no kakera atsumete**

**ugokenai mama**

**ima koboreochite kieta**

* * *

**So I probably won't write another story like this unless I have to for a class or something or if I really feel like it. But writing Hollywood movies really isn't my thing. I much prefer to write at my own pace.  
**

**Hope you enjoyed the story,**

**-Akyuu no Joshu**


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